Busan attracts world-renowned artists thanks to galleries, fairs and Lee Ufan

World-renowned artists like Antony Gormley, Bill Viola and Christian Boltanski have organized a large-scale retrospective, not in Korea’s capital city Seoul, but in the southeastern port city of Busan at the Busan Museum of Art ...

Korea’s master of dansaekhwa, or Korean monochrome painting Lee Ufan's ″Relatum - Narrow gate″ exhibited at Space Lee Ufan at the Busan Museum of Art in Haeundae District, Busan. [BUSAN MUSEUM OF ART]

World-renowned artists like Antony Gormley, Bill Viola and Christian Boltanski have organized a large-scale retrospective, not in Korea’s capital city Seoul, but in the southeastern port city of Busan at the Busan Museum of Art (BMA).

Currently, world-renowned Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami is holding an exhibit “MurakamiZombie” at the museum. The BMA said over 120,000 visitors came to see the exhibit from when it opened on Jan. 26 to March 26. Due to the high volume of visitors, the museum decided to extend the exhibition's run until April 16.

Thanks to shows by such big names in the contemporary art scene and the BMA's location in the popular Haeundae District of the port city, the museum has been seeing extraordinarily large crowds in recent years.

Why are these world-renowned artists holding exhibitions in Busan?

“It was Lee Ufan’s letter,” said Murakami during the press preview of “MurakamiZombie” in January. “When I received his letter inviting me to Busan, I decided right away. Because it’s Lee Ufan.”

In 2015, the BMA established Space Lee Ufan, an annex museum dedicated to Korea’s master of dansaekhwa, or Korean monochrome paintings. Since then, the museum has been organizing a special exhibition series titled “Lee Ufan and His Friends.” The first friend Lee Ufan introduced was Gormley in October 2019, followed by Viola and Boltanski.

“Together with Lee Ufan, the museum drew up a list of about 10 internationally-celebrated contemporary artists. It wouldn’t have been easy to attract such international artists if it wasn’t for Lee Ufan because the BMA isn’t even a national museum or in Seoul,” said the museum’s chief curator Cheong Jong-hyo, adding that he frequently gets calls from overseas asking who Lee Ufan’s next friend will be.

A view of the "MurakamiZombie" retrospective of Takashi Murakami now on view at the Busan Museum of Art in Haeundae District, Busan. [TAKASHI MURAKAMI, KAIKAI KIKI CO., LTD.]

“The list includes other names like Richard Serra and we’ll continue on with the series after we finish a renovation next year.”

According to Cheong, it was in fact Daegu that was trying to establish Space Lee Ufan. But when that plan was scrapped, Busan was quick to seize the opportunity and quickly reached out to the artist.

“The artist’s older sister still lives in Busan and he actually has ties to this city. He went to middle school in Busan and he is known to have attended the Seoul National University High School. The high school was once located in Busan when Korea temporarily moved its capital to this city during the Korean War. That’s how the then mayor of Busan persuaded Lee Ufan to establish Space Lee Ufan in Busan,” said Cheong. “Thanks to the space, Busan is quickly emerging as a mecca for the arts, attractive enough to draw in international visitors and surely the expo in 2030.”

The port city is also home to major galleries like Johyun Gallery and Kukje Gallery’s Busan branch.

Johyun is one of a few Busan-based art galleries that is a regular participant in art fairs like Art Busan, along with other famed Seoul-based galleries, including Kukje.

“I grew up in Busan, and the community has indeed helped foster the growth of the gallery over the years," said Joo Min-young, director of Johyun Gallery. "The city has been actively holding a number of art festivals, like the Busan Biennale."

Johyun Gallery has represented artists like Kwon Dae-sup, Lee Bae, Kim Chong Hak, Yun Hyong-keun and Lee Ufan, and Joo says that its Lee Bae exhibition last year was particularly popular.

"After the gallery underwent renovations, we exhibited the works of Lee Bae from May to July," Joo said. "We saw an increase in visitors, an average of 200 to 300 every day, and to our surprise, the exhibition went viral on social media."

Kukje Gallery, which represents artists like Anish Kapoor, Haegue Yang, Ha Chong-hyun and Ugo Rondinone, opened its Busan branch at the F1963 cultural complex in Suyeong District. The gallery said that it felt like the complex, which used to be a cable factory, was in line with the history and context of Busan, and this encouraged more people to visit the area.

“As Korea’s second-largest city, the cultural arts infrastructure is quickly developing,” said Kwon Joo-rhee, Kukje Gallery’s deputy director of public relations. “There are so many art events, including the Busan Biennale, Art Busan and the Busan Annual Market of Art that are helping Busan gain more attention in the art scene."

Currently, the “Marine Layer” solo exhibition of artist Byron Kim is on view at Kukje's Busan branch, which presents paintings with water-related imagery.

A panorama of what the upcoming Busan Opera House is expected to look like after finishing construction [SNOHETTA]

“Busan is directly linked to the ocean, and motifs of water have long been a recurring theme in the history of art,” Kwon said. “I think this helps make the exhibitions more interesting and intuitive.”

The Busan city government is preparing for the grand opening of the new Busan Opera House, designed by Norwegian architectural firm Snohetta, best known for building the Oslo Opera House. The opera house, which is currently under construction, is located on the city’s waterfront of Jung District. It is expected to open in 2026, according to the Busan city government.

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE, SHIN MIN-HEE [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]