Pace Gallery Seoul's head works to build lasting place for Korean art
For the first two years after joining Pace Gallery, Lee Young-joo found herself constantly shuttling between Seoul and Hong Kong. In 2015, the blue-chip New York gallery was looking toward Hong Kong, not Seoul. The Asian art market was expanding rapidly and the world’s major dealers were following the money into China and Hong Kong. Lee was brought in as a senior director to help with Pace’s…
Lee Young-joo joined the prestigious New York gallery, Pace Gallery, two years ago. Initially, she focused on expanding the gallery's presence in Hong Kong, a region where the Asian art market was rapidly growing and major dealers were shifting their focus. During her tenure, she observed the transformation of Hong Kong's art world, as dealers and artists from around the world converged and integrated into the local market.
Inspired by this experience, Lee realized the potential for a similar ecosystem to develop in her home country, Korea. While Korean collectors were already traveling to Hong Kong to attend fairs and purchase art, Lee recognized that the local market had not yet fully developed to support this growing demand. She believed that Korea possessed the infrastructure, but it had not yet kept pace with the increasing appetite for art.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
