Plas Art Show goes back to basics with renewed focus on its sculpture, 3-D work

A view of the Plas Art Show’s 2025 edition at Coex in Gangnam District, southern Seoul [PLAS ART SHOW]

 

The Plas Art Show — the Coex-based art fair that has staked its identity on sculpture and three-dimensional work — returns for its 11th edition from June 4, with 102 participating galleries and a renewed effort to address criticism that the event has drifted from its founding premise.

 

This year’s count for the Plas Art Show includes 91 domestic galleries and 11 from abroad, spanning Taiwan, Germany, Japan and Georgia — up from 86 galleries last year. Roughly 750 artists will show some 3,500 works under the theme “New Chance.”

 


 

The growth comes against a backdrop of fair fatigue and rising booth costs across the Korean market.

 

Standard booths run 5.7 to 6.7 million won ($3,800 to $4,470) with small booths at 5 million — pricing that Shin Jun-won, president of Plas, argues is a draw for Gangnam-area galleries priced out of larger venues.  

 

“Galleries in Seoul tend to prefer Coex, so I think they have come to us to fit that price point,” Shin said during a press conference for the fair on Monday.

 

Asked on the perception that the Plas Art Show has lost its sculptural focus and now looks like any other midsize event, Shin acknowledged the issue and said curation will be enforced more strictly. 

 

Shin Jun-won, president of Plas Art Show, speaks during a press conference at a venue in Jung District, central Seoul, on May 18. [YONHAP]

 

“We will be doing on-site inspections this year, and applying that to next year’s screening — penalizing galleries that do not follow through,” he said.  

 

Participating galleries are required to include at least one three-dimensional artist and one stereoscopic work.

 

Coex’s announced closure of Hall A from July next year has unsettled the fair calendar, with Kiaf and others scrambling. Plas has secured its dates — June 17 next year — and Shin expects competitors to operate at reduced scale.  

 

Special programs include a large-sculpture exhibition with works priced from 30 million to 100 million won, pitched as samples for corporate and public commissions; an “11 Universities” sculpture showcase priced around 2 million won; and a preview at the Daechi-dong flagship of apparel brand The Handsome from Friday.  

 

A poster for the Plas Art Show 2026 [PLAS ART SHOW]

 

The smaller-format collaboration is aimed at Gangnam collectors who find sculpture more approachable than painting, according to Shin.

 

“Visitors really do love it, and sculpture is the kind of work you can actually touch,” he said.

 

The Plas Art Show 2026 closes on June 7, held for three days from June 4 at Coex in Gangnam District, southern Seoul. Standard tickets are 25,000 won.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]