Teo YOO’s Top Picks from Frieze Seoul Viewing Room 2023
The Past Lives actor selects a moving group of works by international icons including Carl Andre and Tony Cragg, and Asian talents such as Prae Pupityastaporn and Yooyun YANG
The Past Lives actor selects a moving group of works by international icons including Carl Andre and Tony Cragg, and Asian talents such as Prae Pupityastaporn and Yooyun YANG
PETER STICHBURY
Omni, 2023
Oil on linen
30.31" x 23.62" (77 cm x 60 cm)
Presented by Gallery Baton
CARL ANDRE
Belgica Tin Quad, Brussels, 1990
Pure tin and Belgian blue limestone
5.87" x 23.54" x 23.54" (14.9 cm x 59.8 cm x 59.8 cm)
Presented by Paula Cooper Gallery
PRAE PUPITYASTAPORN
Afternoon Recollection, 2023
Acrylic on canvas
18.5" x 23.62" x 1.57" (47 cm x 60 cm x 4 cm)
Presented by Nova Contemporary
TONY CRAGG
Points of View, 2014
Bronze
36.61" x 19.69" x 19.69" (93 cm x 50 cm x 50 cm)
Presented by Lisson Gallery
YOOYUN YANG
Layer, 2020
Acrylic on handmade Korean paper
63.82" x 88.07" x 1.93" (162.1 cm x 223.7 cm x 4.9 cm)
Presented by Stephen Friedman Gallery
TEO YOO EXPLAINS HIS SELECTION PROCESS
When I was being confronted with the task of selecting five artworks for the Frieze Seoul Viewing Room for Frieze Seoul 2023, I was naturally posing one question towards myself:
How can a layman like me, do the almost impossible task of filtering down five works from all the contemporary art of the world today?
I refrained from finding solace in my usual comfort zone: subjective authenticity and emotional truth. As a side-effect of my work, I tend to see things as a harmony, as part of a whole, as a curation with an emotional thoroughfare.
Being a performing artist myself, my current state of mind, a trending zeitgeist and my hobbies may have an effect on my selection.
Themes of key interest are melancholy, piercing emotional resonance and the search for virtue through confrontation of my shadows.
The German word for profession, “Beruf,” derives from the word “Ruf,” to call. My work is my calling. Meine Berufung. The grammatical structure for the cultural logic behind the word gives way to the myth of being chosen by a higher, spiritual power, if one believes in such a construct. So, I was listening to artworks that were calling to me.
I picked 75 initial Artworks from which I have selected these essential five.
I would also like to share two galleries I have discovered, DASTAN Gallery and Gallery 1957, for their excellent selections.
I hope you will be moved.
ABOUT TEO YOO
Teo Yoo is an actor who can be seen as the lead character, Hae Sung, in A24’s critically acclaimed film Past Lives, which was invited to 2023’s Berlin Film Festival Competition and premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
Past credits include the feature film Leto, which premiered in Competition at 2018’s Cannes Film Festival and the Netflix Original Rom-Com Love to Hate You.
FURTHER INFORMATION
About Frieze Viewing Room
Frieze Viewing Room is a free digital platform connecting global audiences with Frieze’s galleries and artists.
Opening to all from August 30-September 12, the Viewing Room is the catalog for Frieze Seoul 2023 and offers visitors a preview of the wealth of gallery presentations coming to the fair, as well as the chance for audiences around the world to experience and acquire the artwork on show.
Frieze Seoul
Frieze Seoul returns to COEX from September 6–9, 2023. Discover the best art from more than 120 leading galleries from across Asia and beyond. Located in the Gangnam district in the heart of Seoul, the fair runs alongside Kiaf SEOUL, South Korea’s leading art fair.
Become a member now to enjoy VIP access, multi-day entry, exclusive guided tours and more.
To keep up to date on all the latest news from Frieze, sign up to the newsletter at frieze.com, and follow @friezeofficial on Instagram, Twitter and Frieze Official on Facebook.
Frieze Seoul is supported by official headline partner LG OLED, in a collaboration that brings together the worlds of art and technology, and by global lead partner Deutsche Bank, continuing two decades of shared commitment to artistic excellence.
