Choi Goen Winner of the Artist Award at Frieze Seoul 2024

Choi repurposes and transforms industrial elements – such as exhaust pipes and air-conditioning units – to reveal the complex physical materials that sustain our digital connections and silently permeate our urban environment. This new commission takes the form of two large-scale sculptures: White Home Wall: Welcome and Gloria.

Choi considers the fair itself as a vast technological medium, creating a work akin to a performative experience. Her installation is an interplay of the positions, angles, positions and rhythms that animate the space of COEX and beyond, highlighting the ever-evolving relationship between art, technology and the urban landscape.

Patrick Lee, Director of Frieze Seoul, said: ‘The Artist Award at Frieze Seoul remains a cornerstone of our programming for a second year. We extend our gratitude to all the artists who submitted proposals and offer special thanks to the jury for their valuable insights. With the Frieze Artist Awards in both Seoul and London spotlighting advanced technologies this year, it will be fascinating to see how two artists interpret this concept differently.’

Choi Goen (b. 1985, South Korea) gathers everyday objects such as furniture, domestic appliances, ducting and cables and presents them as sculptures or installation works that interact with the space in which they are exhibited. For Choi, the new arrangements of the objects are also birthplaces of the cycle through which they were produced, distributed, discarded and recycled, testifying to the systems of contemporary industrial society and the networks called ‘cities’ that make it all possible.

Main Image :Choi Goen. Photo by Kanghyuk Lee