Frieze | A Continent’s Emerging Artists Come Together in Focus Asia

Reena Devi, Frieze Week Seoul, September 4, 2023

The second edition of Frieze Seoul returns with the popular Focus Asia section, curated once again by Hyejung Jang, Chief Curator, DOOSAN Gallery, along with Joselina Cruz, Director and Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD), De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, Manila. Ten galleries in operation since 2011, which have already made a name for themselves regionally, will stage solo presentations by significant artists from across Asia and beyond. This year will differ from the previous edition, with an increased installation element. “I hope that visitors will take the entire section as a single exhibition,” says Jang, “looking closely at individual works but also experiencing the energy that it exudes as a whole. I’d also hope that visitors discover artists they can keep an eye out for in the future.”

 

Singapore’s Yeo Workshop is returning for its second Focus Asia, showcasing young Singaporean artist Priyageetha Dia. Known for her distinctive voice exploring the international artistic landscape of histories, labour, feminism and technology, Dia exhibited at the Singapore Art Museum this year. Building on her exploration of the histories of plantations in Malaya under British colonial rule, Dia’s multimedia installation at the museum primarily comprised a video work with intensely visceral visuals of burning forests within an enclosed meditative space.