The works of 18 Korean artists will be displayed in ``Art Miami,'' a contemporary art fair held at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Florida, starting today till Jan. 22.

At the fair this year, the 11th so far, over 120 galleries from 24 countries are scheduled to present artworks showing the latest trends in contemporary art from various genres _ painting, sculpture, photography, installation art and media art.

Three galleries from Korea will participate in the international event this year.

Park Ryu Sook Gallery will submit the works of three renowned artists _ Chung Chang-sup, Suh Se-ok and Park Seo-bo _ as well as those of three up- and-comers _ Kim Kang-yong, Lee Jin-yong and Lee Young-sup.

At ``Art Cologne'' in Koeln last November, Park Seo-bo's work not only sold fairly well, but he also received a proposal for an exhibition. Well known for his vast monochrome pieces using Korean paper that give the illusion of infinite space, Park is well established in the annals of Korean contemporary art.

Kim Kang-yong's hyper-realistic pieces and Lee Jin-yong's installation work were also well received in international art fairs, selling over 20 pieces each.

On the other hand, Lee Young-sup, whose works of simple, primitive sculptures are reminiscent of ancient figurines dug up from archeological remains, is just getting ready to leap into the international art arena.

In addition, Baik Song Gallery will submit the works of four artists and Galerie Bhak those of nine artists, including internationally-acclaimed video artist Paik Nam-june, who held a retrospective last year at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

Paik will present five new pieces featuring robots that he made especially to present at this fair.

Several other artists presented by Galerie Bhak are Kim Chang-young and Ham Sup, who already have a considerable amount of collectors in the U.S. and Germany as well as first-timers Rhee Jeong-yoen and Lee Mok-ul, who both strongly emanate Korean images and sensibilities in their work.

As international art fairs are where the art dealers, gallery owners and collectors from around the globe congregate to discover fresh, original artists and observe new trends, they provide a perfect opportunity for promising artists to launch into art circles in order to be ``discovered.''

They also allow galleries from other countries to come together and exchange exhibitions.

The six artists of Park Ryu Sook Gallery have also recently participated in ``Art Palm Beach,'' another art fair in Florida, held from Jan. 10-15.

As the only Korean participant, the gallery competed with 67 galleries from all over the world, such as Annely Juda Fine Art from London and Maxwell Davidson Gallery from New York.

This is the second time for Park Ryu Sook Gallery, the fourth for Galerie Bhak and the first time for Baik Song Gallery to participate in the Miami art fair.

Park Ryu Sook Gallery, who participates in several international art fairs each year, has four more planned for this year. Galerie Bhak has five more slated for later this year.
< By Chung Hye-jean Staff Reporter, Korea Times>