Art Busan, one of Korea's two major art fairs that drives the country's first-half art market alongside Kiaf Seoul in the second half, will open with a VIP preview on May 21 and run through May 24 at BEXCO in Busan. This year's fair will feature around 110 galleries from 18 countries. Overseas galleries total 26, accounting for 24% of the participants. International galleries with bases in major global cities, including Gladstone Gallery, Tang Contemporary Art and Whitestone, will participate, along with Hong Kong's 3812 Gallery, Tokyo's Biscuit Gallery and Taipei's Each Modern. Korean participants include Gana Art, Kukje Gallery, The Page Gallery, Johyun Gallery and Leeahn Gallery.
Launched in 2012 as "Art Show Busan" and marking its 15th anniversary this year, Art Busan declared a "founding year of transformation" at a press conference held at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul on the 28th. Jung Sun-joo, Art Busan director who has taken charge of overall planning this year, said, "We are restructuring the fair's framework and direction. Beyond a transaction-focused fair, we will fully implement a structure that jointly plans and produces content based on a cooperative network among major Asian art fairs, and expands this to the global market."
The growing influence of art fairs is a global trend. According to the "Art Basel & UBS Global Art Market Report 2026," 58% of high-net-worth individuals said they purchase works through art fairs. Art fair sales accounted for 35% of gallery revenue, up 4% from the previous year and the highest level since 2022. However, polarization is intensifying around "global franchise art fairs" such as Art Basel and Frieze. Art Busan has chosen a network strategy to bridge this gap by connecting national art fairs. "VIP groups from regional flagship art fairs such as Art Central Hong Kong, Art Jakarta and Tokyo Gendai, with whom we have consistently collaborated, will visit Art Busan," Jung said. "As a result of the partnership with Tokyo Gendai forged last year, eight Japanese galleries will participate in Art Busan, and we have selected Taiwan as this year's guest country to experiment with joint curation with Art Taipei." During Frieze London in October, Art Busan will collaborate with "Minor Attractions," a satellite fair rapidly emerging as the most noted event, to support Korean galleries' entry into the market. Launched in 2023 as an alternative to the corporate mega art fairs, Minor Attractions showcases experimental exhibitions by emerging galleries and non-profit art spaces.
The main exhibition will strengthen curation through expert collaboration. Lee Jang-wook, chief curator of Space K, will serve as artistic director, and Ko Won-seok, director of the Line Cultural Foundation, will plan the special exhibition.
Looking at the gallery program details, Kukje Gallery will present a Julian Opie solo booth, while Johyun Gallery will exhibit works by Kengo Kuma, the architect who designed the Tokyo Olympic main stadium. Leeahn Gallery will feature works by Lee Kang-so alongside Eddie Martinez, and Wooson Gallery will offer a preview of Yukimasa Ida's solo exhibition scheduled for the second half of the year. Gladstone will unveil three new paintings by Ugo Rondinone for the first time, along with a large-scale painting by Alex Katz. Whitestone has prepared a Karen Shiozawa solo exhibition, while Gallery Kloze will introduce Tony Cragg's hanji (Korean paper) works and Titus Lerner's bronze sculptures for the first time in Korea.
The "Future" section, featuring 23 emerging galleries established within the past five years, will spotlight the work of emerging artists. In this section, Hana Financial Group will select three emerging artists through the "Hana Future Art Award," support their booths and name a grand prize winner. In addition, diverse programs including studio tours of artists Kim Eun-joo and Lee In-mi, a talk program with artist Hong Seung-hye, and collaborative programs with the Busan Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art Busan will color all of Busan as an art city during the fair period.
