[Exclusive] Asia's Tang Contemporary Art to open first Western outpost in London

An installation view of the group exhibition "If You Can See" is seen at Tang Contemporary Art's Beijing headquarters, which opened Oct. 7. (Tang Contemporary Art)

Tang Contemporary Art, one of the most influential commercial galleries in Asia, will launch a new space in London next year, its first gallery in the West after 26 years in Asia.

Headquartered in Beijing, the gallery represents Chinese contemporary art masters such as Ai Weiwei, Yue Minjun and Zhao Zhao. It has presented some 80 artists, mostly from Asia, including Korean artists Paik Nam-june, Chun Kwang-young, Woo Kuk-won and Lee Diren.

The gallery is currently working on the interior design of its London venue, aiming to open as early as next year.

"We were looking for an opportunity to introduce Asian artists with whom we have worked in Western countries, and London became the first city," an official from the gallery told The Korea Herald.

The gallery is also looking at a chance to open a space in New York within a couple of years. Tang Contemporary Art participated in the Armory Show in New York in 2023, 2021 and 2020 as well as Frieze New York in 2019.

As Asia’s leading gallery, Tang Contemporary Art is currently running seven spaces across Beijing, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Seoul. Founded by Zheng Lin in 1997, the gallery started with a venue in Bangkok and most recently opened a space in southern Seoul last year when the city began to grab international attention as Asia’s latest art hub.

The gallery will continue bolstering its presence in Asia, opening a new space in Singapore coinciding with the opening of its London space.

An installation view of works by Vienna-based artist Anouk Lamm Anouk for the exhibition "Unpack Reveal Unleash” is seen at Tang Contemporary Art in Seoul. (Park Yuna/The Korea Herald)

Meanwhile, the gallery’s Seoul space opened a group exhibition on Friday entitled “Unpack Reveal Unleash.” Curated by Park Yonni and Hong Jee-un, the show presents works by Vienna-based artist Anouk Lamm Anouk, Berlin-based artist Jonas Burgert, Spanish artist Olga Esther, Chilean-born artist Guillermo Lorca and Korean artists Lee Diren, Jang Koal and Yoon Hyup.

“The newly opened group exhibition in Seoul is like a preview of upcoming exhibitions of the participating artists at Tang Contemporary Art,” Park said.

By Park Yuna(yunapark@heraldcorp.com)