[Cultural Interview] "A Gallery Is Not a Business... To Uphold That, You Still Have to Sell Art"

Sung Hoon Lee, Chairman of the Korea Art Gallery Association
"A Great Gallery Is Where Artists Are Discovered, Developed, Supported, and Nurtured"
Suwon Seeks New Collectors, While KIAF Tests the Foundation for International Expansion
"The

Seonghoon Lee, Chairman of the Korean Art Gallery Association, while talking about galleries, recalled a family meeting from 1977. When his mother, Kim Changsil, the founder of Sun Gallery, announced her intention to open a gallery, her son, who had just entered Seoul National University, objected.

Sung-Hoon Lee, Chairman of the Korea Art Gallery Association, is being interviewed by The Asia Business Daily at the association office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yongjun

"I said, 'If you go into the art business, people will just call you a merchant. Who's going to respect you for that?' But my mother looked at me very seriously. She said, 'A gallery isn't about that. We are not merchants. We are people who discover and nurture those who will leave behind cultural heritage for future generations.' That was the first time I truly reconsidered what it means to run a gallery."

Those words were not just family advice. In her mid-30s, founder Kim Changsil took off a diamond ring she wore to purchase a painting by Jeong Seon. In her mid-20s, she bought Dosangbong’s "Lilac" using the money she had saved as a pharmacist, making it the first collection piece of Sun Gallery. Between buying for love and paying the price with responsibility, for her, that was what a gallery was about.

Her son, who went on to become a judge and a lawyer, is now the chairman of the Korean Art Gallery Association. In the interview, he discussed the Art Promotion Act, art fair booth fees, transaction disclosures, and resale rights. He analyzed policies like a legal expert and scrutinized costs like an association chairman. Yet, the very first sentence he used to describe galleries did not come from the law, but from his mother's rebuttal.

The late Kim Changsil, founder of Sun Gallery. Through the words of his mother, founder Kim, Lee Seonghun, chairman of the Korea Art Gallery Association, explained the gallery’s perspective as "a gallery is not a merchant but a place that discovers and nurtures artists." Yonhap News Agency

"We do not believe that simply buying and selling paintings well is our main role. I think the greatest mission of running a gallery is to discover and nurture artists."

Those words are beautiful. However, exhibitions cannot be held on beautiful words alone. Chairman Lee did not shy away from this reality. "A truly excellent gallery is one that discovers, develops, supports, and nurtures artists. But if you do only that and the business doesn't work, you can't survive. If an artist you've discovered grows well and this leads to income, that's ideal, but getting to that point is extremely difficult."

The word he identified as a weakness of the Korean art market was "small scale." Hosting exhibitions, transporting artworks, and participating in art fairs all incur costs. If nothing sells, the losses are borne by the gallery. Well-known artists are already represented by major galleries. It is the smaller galleries that first showcase lesser-known artists. When the market cools, it is these galleries that struggle first.

The Suwon Hwarang Art Festival is an attempt to sustain these smaller galleries outside of Seoul. Now in its third year, Hwarang Art Festival in Suwon will be held at the Suwon Convention Center from the 25th to the 28th. Chairman Lee described Suwon as "part of the metropolitan area, but not Seoul." From his perspective, southern Gyeonggi is not a region lacking in wealth. The real issue is purchasing habits.

"You need money to buy art. If you don't have money, you can't buy it. There are IT-based companies in southern Gyeonggi, and I have such expectations. Ultimately, this will expand the collector base."

Hwarang Art Festival Suwon 2024 Venue. Suwon City

This year, the key issue is not how many people attended, but who actually made purchases. "Works priced in the tens or early hundreds of thousands of won sell, but when it comes to pieces worth tens of millions of won, they rarely sell. This year, I hope that even higher-priced pieces will find buyers."

KIAF Seoul faces the same question. Frieze Seoul successfully brought foreign collectors to the city. The real issue is whether those collectors will stop before Korean artists. Chairman Lee defined KIAF’s role as follows:

"One of the most important roles of KIAF is to serve as a foundation for domestic artists to enter overseas markets. I believe it is very important to increase inflow from abroad and create opportunities for greater exchange."

The concept of "K-Art" is not taken lightly here. The fact that Korean artists are being recognized overseas and that domestic galleries are preparing for their next exhibition are still not the same thing. Chairman Lee identified this as a challenge involving "the inflow of foreign collectors to Korea, a sustainable transaction base for galleries, and the framework for artists’ long-term careers."

The Art Promotion Act has the potential to either disrupt or support this structure. The issue he is most concerned about during his term is the "soft landing" of the law. He raised his voice especially regarding the resale royalty right, also known as the droit de suite.

"There are no specific details. What kinds of transactions are covered, what is the threshold amount, what is the compensation rate - all of these details have been delegated. From this year to next year, over the course of a year, we must ensure a soft landing so that galleries are not harmed, and we too can embrace this system with peace of mind."

Seonghoon Lee, Chairman of the Korean Art Gallery Association, is being interviewed by The Asia Business Daily at the association office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yongjun

He did not deny the intent of protecting artists' rights. However, he was concerned about the possibility that transactions could contract. "To implement the droit de suite, you have to track all transactions. This means that galleries and auctions might be required to disclose all their transaction records."

If collectors avoid gallery transactions due to exposure concerns, the damage may first hit artists who need their first exhibition and their first buyers, rather than those whose works have already increased in price. The system intended to protect artists could inadvertently narrow the gateway for newcomers to enter the market.

His mother said that a gallery is not a merchant. As the association chairman, the son expressed it this way: "The greatest mission is to discover and nurture artists. However, if the business does not work, we cannot survive."

The Suwon Hwarang Art Festival is a venue to find new buyers. KIAF is a venue to place Korean artists before international collectors. The Art Promotion Act is a test of whether it can protect artists without intimidating transactions. The idea that a gallery is not a merchant cannot be proven by good intentions alone. It is proven by the next exhibition and the next transaction.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.