Phillips in Collaboration with The Artist Room Presents New Romantics in Seoul

An Exhibition Exploring the Revival of a New Spirit of Romanticism Amongst a Pioneering Generation of Contemporary Artists

Coinciding with the Debut of Frieze Seoul and Leading Art Fairs Kiaf SEOUL & Kiaf PLUS

Location: Lee Eugean Gallery, Seoul

Public viewing: 31 August – 6 September 2022

SEOUL – 3 AUGUST 2022 – Phillips, in collaboration with The Artist Room, is pleased to announce New Romantics, an exhibition of works which highlight the new spirit of Romanticism that is being revived by certain emerging and mid-career artists from the United Kingdom and beyond. Showcasing works by 23 artists, this presentation at Lee Eugean Gallery in Seoul’s Gangnam district from 31 August to 6 September will coincide with the debut of Frieze Seoul, and the city’s flagship art fairs Kiaf SEOUL & Kiaf PLUS. The works featured in this exhibition will be on sale in Hong Kong from 19 September to 21 October 2022.

Henry Highley, Director of Private Sales, Europe and Principal Auctioneer, Phillips, said: “New Romantics marks the first time Phillips is hosting a contemporary art exhibition outside of our auction calendar in Seoul, as the art scene in South Korea continues to thrive. We have witnessed incredible growth in the market here, with buying activity from collectors based in South Korea increasing by 258% in 2021, compared to the previous year. We are very excited to present this exhibition in collaboration with The Artist Room, with each work providing a window into each artist’s perspective. Acting as portals, the included portraits, landscapes, and abstract vistas invite us to reencounter our surroundings with poetic sensibilities – allowing us to find order in disorder; the rational amongst chaos; and beauty in the unexpected.”

Milo Astaire, Founder of The Artist Room, said: “Seoul is an incredibly exciting destination and market for contemporary art and The Artist Room is delighted to partner with Phillips on this curated exhibition during the inaugural edition of Frieze Seoul. New Romantics explores how artists are incorporating inclusive and free-spirited sensibilities to revive a spirit of Romanticism and dissect the complexities of our world. Highlighting painting’s constantly evolving capacity to subvert our expectations and transcend the everyday, New Romantics celebrates some of the most compelling artists working today.”

Among the exhibition highlights are works by a line-up of exciting young contemporary painters including Ania Hobson, Francesca Mollett, Ellie Pratt, and Kristy M Chan. The prize-winning figurative painter Ania Hobson is known for creating portraits of young women. Her work has been exhibited throughout Europe and was featured at the 2019 Venice Biennale. Ellie Pratt’s dreamlike, figurative works focus on female figures, and Francesca Mollett uses abstraction as a way for interpreting surfaces. Kristy M Chan works between London and Hong Kong, traversing figuration and abstraction to form energetic, intuitive and autobiographical compositions.

Other highlights include works by in-demand international contemporary artists Katherine Bernhardt, Issy Wood, Hernan Bas, Annie Morris, and Dana Schutz. Issy Wood specialises in making the familiar strange, her unusual choice of materials and disquieting imagery distinguishing her since Wood’s first solo exhibition in 2017. Demonstrative of his position as a key figure within the world of contemporary art, Hernan Bas has mounted numerous successful solo exhibitions in recent years. London based Annie Morris is known for her colourful and playful stack sculptures, and her multimedia work comprises drawings, paintings, sculptures, and tapestries. Dana Schutz is known for integrating painterly traditions with dark humour in her works. Depicting grotesque imagery and anamorphic paintings with saccharine colours, her subject matter is highly imaginative and often centred on surreal situations that explore the nuances of the human condition.

Romanticism was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in the 18th century. It looked to break away from the ideas and traditions of the past, focusing on the imagination, a return to nature, and emphasising the importance of individual artistic expression. In this vein, New Romantics brings together a genre-defining group of contemporary artists who offer us original dreams and visions, highlighting painting’s continued capacity for escapism. All of the works presented explore the complexities of today’s world and highlight art’s capacity to transcend the everyday, channel intuition and freedom, and render visible transfixing portals for escapism and fantasy.

New Romantics exhibition

Location: Lee Eugean Gallery, Seoul

Public viewing (local time in Seoul):

Wednesday 31 August – 11am – 5pm

Thursday 1 September – 11am – 7pm

Friday 2 September – 11am – 8pm

Saturday 3 September – 11am – 8pm

Sunday 4 September – 11am – 7pm

Monday 5 September – 11am – 7pm

Tuesday 6 September – 11am – 7pm