Korean Contemporary Art Makes Global Impression at Seattle Art Fair 2025
- MiYoung Seul Margolis 설미영
- Jul 23
- 4 min read
Presented by Gallery B612 | Now on Artsy
At the 2025 Seattle Art Fair, Gallery B612 unveiled a deeply poetic and visually compelling exhibition that introduced four remarkable Korean contemporary artists to the global art market. Curated and directed by artist and gallerist MiYoung Seul Margolis, the show — The Sky, The Wind, The Stars, and Poetry — was inspired by the work of Korean legendary poet Yun Dong-ju(1917-1945) and realized through the traditional yet transformative medium of hanji.
The featured artists — Minjung Kim, KyoungMug Park, YoungHwa Choi, and MiYoung Margolis — each brought a unique lens to this thematic and material foundation, using hanji not only as surface but as concept, voice, and vessel.
A Powerful Market and Institutional Response
The show resonated with collectors, curators, and cultural organizations alike, leading to multiple acquisitions during the fair. Notably, two artworks from the exhibition were selected for display at Amazon’s Global Headquarters in Seattle, affirming both the aesthetic and institutional value of the featured works.
Today, select pieces from the exhibition are available to a global audience via Artsy, and for in-person viewing at Gallery B612 in Seattle by private appointment.
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Artist Highlights
Minjung Kim The Breath Between UsMinjung Kim’s contemplative ink-on-hanji works explore emotional resonance and interpersonal energy. As a trained art therapist, she views emotion as something that flows between people — like shared breath. Her featured work Gravity Between Us captures this invisible yet profoundly felt movement with soft tonal gradients and layered textures. It asks: Can emotion be shared without language?
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KyoungMug Park Live Ink, Living PoetryKyoungMug Park's live painting performances during VIP Night and Saturday captivated audiences with their raw immediacy. Working directly on floor canvas using traditional Korean ink (meok), he created bold, spontaneous abstractions guided by live bilingual narration of Yun Dong-ju’s poetry.
In addition to his performance pieces, Park’s Island (Seom) series — also featured in the exhibition — invites quiet reflection on existence and cosmic order. The delicate harmony of ink and hanji, layered with pearl powder or clay powder, adds gravity and tactility to the work. These natural materials ground the abstract with earthy substance, evoking timelessness and depth.
All of Park’s exhibited works, including the completed performance paintings, are now viewable at Gallery B612.
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YoungHwa Choi Nature, Balance, and Inner CosmosYoungHwa Choi’s pieces speak to the quiet, cyclical movements of nature — wind, water, stillness, and light. Her meticulous hanji-based abstractions are infused with a sense of calm geometry and spiritual rhythm. With each work, she invites the viewer into a silent, sacred space — one that balances emotion and order, energy and pause.
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MiYoung Seul Margolis Myth, Memory, and the Materiality of HanjiAs both artist and director of Gallery B612, MiYoung Margolis weaves personal memory and Korean myth into layered mixed-media works on hanji. Her featured series, Ithaca and Windows to Ithaca, explore themes of homecoming, resilience, and feminine power. Using resin, ink, and embedded crystals, Margolis treats hanji not just as a surface — but as a living, breathing archive of untold stories.“It absorbs,” she says. “It remembers. It holds what we cannot say.”
A Bridge Across Cultures: Art Bridge: From Seattle to Seoul, Korea Reception
On July 24, Gallery B612 hosted a moving Artist Reception in collaboration with Special Arts Korea and Vibrant Palette Arts Center. As part of the ongoing "Art Bridge: Seattle to Seoul" initiative, the event celebrated inclusivity, cross-cultural dialogue, and community through art.
Guests gathered for conversation, artist introductions, and heartfelt exchanges — reaffirming that art is not just what we see, but what we share.
Hanji as Conceptual Foundation
What unified this diverse exhibition was not a single style or genre — but hanji, Korea’s traditional handmade paper, reimagined here as a conceptual framework.
“Hanji is more than a medium,” Margolis explained. “It’s a portal — a material that carries the resilience, silence, and poetry of Korean history.”
Through hanji, each artist told a different story — of breath, nature, movement, memory, and myth — all woven into a quiet but resonant emotional rhythm.
Looking Ahead
Interest in the exhibition continues to grow. The presence of Gallery B612 and its artists at the fair led to promising conversations with cultural institutions — including the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Seattle — regarding future collaborations and potential ambassadorial showcases.
As the exhibition expands online via Artsy, and remains available by appointment in Seattle, Gallery B612 continues its mission: to elevate Korean contemporary voices and connect them with the world through thoughtful curation, community, and care.
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