Seoul appeal: Korean art captivates Indonesia’s affluent connoisseurs

JAKARTA – Last Thursday, Baik Art gallery in Jakarta, Indonesia, was crowded with well-heeled art patrons eager to meet a revered artist from South Korea. It was the opening day of the art exhibition, “Mumool,” featuring Choi Sang Chul, in his late 70s, who flew about seven hours from Seoul for the event.

Jakarta’s typically tropical, wet-season weather did little to slow the arrival of wealthy, local art enthusiasts, drawn by new acquisitions to satisfy their hunger for the sublime.

Before the end of the opening ceremony, some of Choi’s art pieces were sold to local collectors.

“My face is going numb,” Choi laughed. “Back home, opening days tend to be quieter, but I love the energy of the collectors here.”

The Korean master artist was joking about all the smiling required for the many photo requests from the gallery visitors in front of his art pieces, which will be displayed in Baik Art Jakarta until May 24, 2025.

The scene reflects a new wave of Korean cultural influence in Indonesia – emerging as a hotspot for contemporary art among global collectors and galleries – after years of Korean art galleries’ tireless efforts to advance into the country's thriving art market, supported by a surging crop of local collectors.

There is also an increase in super-rich, local collectors keen to own pieces by Korean artists. 

NEW AND STRIKING

Choi’s distinctive artistic approach, which diverges from prevailing art trends, initially eluded recognition from elite collectors in the Southeast Asian country.

Born in 1946, Choi earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in painting from Seoul National University. Since the late 1970s, he has rejected all notions of trend or categorization, devoting himself instead to capturing the pure moment – a way of expressing the world in its most unfiltered natural state rather than the fabricated forms.

He has also stopped using the brush in drawing and has started using objects like stones to “introduce randomness” into his works, created by repeating the same action countless times on one canvas, according to Baik Art.

To Indonesian art lovers, who are generally fond of colorful, tropical art pieces or works conveying local history and political and social messages, Choi’s works are not familiar.

When his art pieces hit the Indonesian art scene for the first time during Art Jakarta, Indonesia’s largest contemporary art fair, in 2023, they met with a tepid response.

But since then, Indonesia’s art landscape has undergone a dramatic transformation, joined by more collectors who are unafraid to invest in art that sparks their curiosity, resonates with their values and aligns with their aesthetic sensibilities, said Susan Baik, founder of Baik Art.

“With growing interest in Korean art, we are seeing a rise in local art patrons eager to acquire Korean works, including pieces by Choi,” said Baik.

AN EMERGING ART HOTSPOT

Evelyn Halim, a high-profile art collector in the Southeast Asian country, is one of those local elite collectors showing a growing fondness for Korean art.

Inside her private art vault, she owns pieces by Sung Neung Kyung and Paik Nam June.

Riding the K-wave in Indonesia’s art scene, Korean art galleries are also actively seeking to capture power art collectors like Halim in the country, such as Wiyu Wahono and Abigail Hakim.

In October last year, six Korean art galleries took part in Art Jakarta.

Southeast Asia is viewed as an emerging art market with high growth potential, driven by the heavily populated region’s fast economic growth.

Bidding big on the region's art market, worldly renowned art galleries and auction houses have set up base camps in Singapore for their advance into other parts of Southeast Asia.

In particular, they keep a closer eye on Indonesia, which has grown into the fast-evolving contemporary art scene cultivated by growing affluent power collectors.

While the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita hovers around $5,000, its wealthy art collectors punch well above their weight – often outspending their Korean counterparts, despite Korea's higher economic standing. 

Like Halim, Wahono and Hakim also have personal art museums, and the three collectors commissioned an underwater installation, “Domus Anguillae,” on the seabed off northern Bali in 2022, making a sensation in the international art community.  

The sculpture, now covered in coral, has attracted many foreign art enthusiasts from Western countries and Art Basel officials to Bali to view it.

On the other hand, Korean collectors are more eager than ever to explore and invest in Indonesian art.

While most works by Indonesian artists remain relatively affordable for now, “their value is bound to rise given the rapid growth of the country’s art market,” said a Korean collector.

Write to Soo-Young Seong at syoung@hankyung.com

Sookyung Seo edited this article.