Seoul-based artist Im Youngzoo has been awarded the 2025 Frieze Seoul Artist Prize, supported for the third year by Italian fashion house Bvlgari. The commission will debut at Frieze Seoul, opening at the COEX convention and exhibition center today and running through September 6th. The award allows an emerging or mid-career Korea-based artist to present a new commission at the fair.
This year, the third annual award responds to the theme “Future Commons,” prompting artists to engage with ideas of community. Artists will respond to the same theme for the Frieze London Artist Prize, which will be announced this October.
Im’s winning proposal, Calming Signal, is a three-channel video installation that considers collective behavior and societal rhythms. The work is presented within a grid-like structure, juxtaposing Earth’s tilted axis with culturally significant dances and gestures. The project draws its title from repetitive behavior observed in animals under stress. Im uses these behaviours as a metaphor to reflect on how modern societies act under collective unease.
“Her work, Calming Signal, offers a profound exploration of collective behavior and societal rhythms, resonating deeply with our 2025 theme, ‘Future Commons,’” said Patrick Lee, director of Frieze Seoul. “Im’s innovative approach and compelling narrative exemplify the dynamic talent emerging from Korea’s contemporary art scene.”
Born in Busan in 1982, Im works across video, installation, performance, and virtual reality. She graduated with an MA in fine art from Seoul’s Hongik University in 2009. Her practice often explores the tension between scientific logic and spiritual belief systems, testing the boundaries between reality and the supernatural. Im has exhibited at Seoul’s Perigee Hall in 2024 and New York’s Doosan Gallery in 2019, among several others. She is shortlisted for the 2025 Korea Artist Prize at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Korea.
The Frieze Seoul Artist Award launched in 2023, with Woo Hannah as its inaugural recipient. In 2024, Goen Choi was awarded the commission.
