The gallery—which currently has exhibition spaces in London, Paris and Salzburg—is opening an outpost in Seoul this October
Thaddaeus Ropac is opening a new gallery in Seoul this October—its first space in Asia.
It is the latest international gallery to put down roots in the South Korean capital, which is also home to outposts of Pace, Perrotin, Lehmann Maupin and König Galerie, among others.
Thaddaeus Ropac has taken a 750sqm space in the city's Hannam-dong district, which is emerging as a new art hub: Hannam-dong is also home to the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, Pace gallery and Phillips auction house.
The gallery will be located on the ground floor of Fort Hill, a landmark building that won the Korean National Architecture Award 2011 and Seoul Architecture Award 2011. Acclaimed designer Teo Yang is overseeing a renovation of the interior.
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“It's with tremendous excitement that we are establishing the gallery in Seoul and a privilege to participate in and contribute to a city that has such strong and long-established foundations for artistic interchange," says Thaddaeus Ropac, who founded the gallery in Salzburg in 1981.
"Our personal ties to South Korea and huge affinity with the city of Seoul have grown significantly since starting to work with Lee Bul in 2007, and it has been an honour to work with institutions such as Seoul Museum of Art, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Korea, MMCA Seoul and Leeum Samsung Museum over many years. We have found a space in Seoul that feels very much like a new home for our artists and our exhibition programme, which we look forward to sharing when we open in October.”
Thaddaeus Ropac's Asia director, Kyu Jin Hwang, will lead the new gallery.
Thaddaeus Ropac represents a number of renowned artist estates including the Donald Judd Foundation, Joseph Beuys Estate and Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, as well as more than 50 contemporary artists, among them stars such as Antony Gormley, Gilbert & George, Anselm Kiefer, Elizabeth Peyton and Yan Pei-Ming.
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