国王画廊·MCM 首尔丨韩国首尔丨Neri&Hu

König Galerie opened a new art space earlier this month, the eponymously named König Seoul with luxury clothing brand MCM, located in Gangnam, Seoul. Long-time collaborators, the shared venture comes fresh off the heels of their last project, König Tokio, a gallery space located within MCM’s flagship store in Tokyo, which, despite a persisting pandemic, was successfully received all throughout last year.

The Berlin-based gallery was formed in 2002 and now represents over 40 emerging and established artists. Partnering with MCM, a fashion staple since 1976 with a focus on German heritage and functional innovation, the collective brings their quintessentially German worldview to the broader world community.

Housed in the MCM Seoul Flagship Store, and completed in 2016 by Neri&Hu, the space is a fitting foothold for König to establish itself within the Korean market. Imbued with a Bauhaus ethos, the building reads as a curio box against the Seoul skyline with carefully articulated metal window openings that draw people in.

König Seoul will occupy the 5th floor of MCM Haus Seoul as well as the spacious rooftop that has been transformed into a sculpture garden. The project will be overseen by Soo Choi, a Seoul-based gallerist with 15 years of experience in the international art market.

Featuring a cross-section of the König cosmos, 20 artists will come together in a group exhibition to present their diverse body of work, some of which have been created especially for this inaugural show. Vibrant paintings, bold sculptures, and delicate drawings transform the Flagship Store into a bustling vessel for contemporary art and design.

Placed together within the new König Seoul space, these works are presented in juxtaposition to each other, creating unique associations and new connections that are reflective of the diverse cultural backgrounds and artistic practices of each artist and their work.

[Images courtesy of Neri&Hu. Photography by Chunho An and Dirk Weiblen.]