Heemin Chung Five Artists Debuting During Frieze London

By Phoebe Bradford

Heemin Chung at Thaddaeus Ropac
It's been a year since Thaddaeus Ropac announced their representation of Korean artist Heemin Chung, who recently created a series of miniature BMW Art Cars for Frieze Seoul 2024.

Based in Seoul, Chung earned her BFA in painting from Hongik University and her MFA from Korea National University of Arts. Her work explores how people navigate a tech-driven society, highlighting emotional disconnection through surface texture.

In UMBRA (8 October–20 November 2024), her first exhibition in the U.K., Chung presents new large-scale works on canvas that combine acrylic, oil, gel, and resin. These ethereal abstractions, built from translucent, membrane-like layers in muted tones, are strikingly tactile. They recall weathered walls or the urban decay of a city left to deteriorate.

Chung notes that her process often begins with 'a very subtle and fleeting sensation, almost like a whisper that moves between the physical and the virtual ... It represents a shadow, an abyss, a longing for an unknown, and an imagination of the reality on the opposite side of the shadow.'