Peres Projects is pleased to announce its expansion in Seoul in April 2023. Occupying four floors in the Sagan-dong neighborhood, this new gallery will cement Peres Projects’ presence in Seoul’s flourishing art scene. Following Peres Projects’ core commitment to the promotion of young and emerging artists, this new location will be inaugurated with a special twofold exhibition representing the diversity of the gallery’s dynamic and ambitious program.
In April 2022, Peres Projects chose Seoul to launch its first gallery in Asia and reaffirm its commitment to its growing audience across the Asian continent. After a successful year at the prestigious The Shilla hotel, the gallery is looking forward to increasing its presence in the South Korean capital with a second exhibition space. Over the past two years, Seoul has exploded as a cultural hub in Asia, prompting international galleries to open additional locations, such as Perrotin, or move to larger spaces, such as Lehmann Maupin and Pace. This new venture is an opportunity for Peres Projects to strengthen its connections with its collectors in Seoul and beyond, and with the inspiring community of institutions, curators and writers the gallery has engaged with over the past year.
Located in the Sagan-dong district, at the intersection of Songhyeon-dong and Sogyeok-dong, this new space will be Peres Projects’ fourth location across three cities — Berlin, Seoul, and Milan. The gallery is happy to join this dynamic neighborhood, in the center of one of the most culturally active areas in Seoul. Museums, such as the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, and international galleries, including Kukje Gallery, Gallery Hyundai, Hakgojae Gallery, and Perrotin, have found a home in this part of the capital; as will soon the collection of the late Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee. In the close vicinity of the renowned Gyeongbokgung Palace, Bukchon Hanok Village and National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, the area is also rich in history.
Erected in 2003, this four-story building totaling 2,060 square feet has been renovated by the Korean design studio Yeorum Design. The renovation retains the 20-year original character of both the exterior and interior of the building, while harmoniously integrating the new gallery into its surroundings. Three exhibition spaces are spread over the first and second floors, providing flexibility to hold a varied program of exhibitions. With its high ceilings, the first floor offers ample space to accommodate large-scale projects.
The new gallery will launch on April 28, 2023, with a double inaugural presentation: a solo exhibition by London-based artist Cece Philips, and an extensive group exhibition of artists from the gallery program, including Manuel Solano, George Rouy, Emily Shaffer Ludwig, Austin Lee, Shuang Li, Rafa Silvares, Paolo Salvador and Ajarb Bernard Ategwa. This group presentation will also mark Danish artist Anton Munar’s debut with Peres Projects.
Cece Philips (b.1996 in London, UK) is one of the most recent artists to join Peres Projects. She made her solo debut with the gallery in Berlin in the fall of 2022 with her exhibition The Night has a Thousand Eyes. This inaugural exhibition will mark her debut in Asia. Cece Philips is a storyteller;her paintings describe a curious, darkening cosmopolis where space, gender roles and racial dynamics are reimagined; a city of women who sit, lean and drink in office-cum-homes, the depths of their emotional worlds concealed.
The group exhibition will encapsulate the gallery’s philosophy which is to amplify the voices of young artists from backgrounds that have historically been underrepresented in Western art circles. Drawing from their own personal and cultural histories, these artists convey voices that add to both the cultural and social discourse, and shape a more inclusive artistic landscape, while imagining new ways to inhabit our lives and our environment.
