Seoul Auction, Korea’s leading auction house, will launch an art exhibition space in Hong Kong on Thursday, as part of its effort to expand its footing in Asia and promote Korean art and artists overseas, it said Monday.

During a press conference in Seoul to mark its 20th anniversary, Seoul Auction said that the auction house would launch its new exhibition space SA+ in Hong Kong’s new H Queen’s building, dedicated to galleries.

“Seoul Auction decided to launch the exhibition space SA+ in Hong Kong, largely because it feels responsible for introducing Korean artists in the overseas market. The auction house will continue efforts to discover artists who are talented yet undervalued,” said Lee Ok-Kyung, CEO and vice chairwoman of Seoul Auction. 

SA+ will serve as both exhibition and auction spaces, Marketing Director Chey Youn-seok said.

“Seoul Auction named the place SA+ to imply that the space is dedicated not only to auctions but also other events such as art exhibitions and forums,” Chey added.

“The arrival of new international galleries in the newly built building is expected to generate some productive competition among them. It will be a good opportunity for us to increase our footing in the overseas market and to introduce Korean artists to other galleries and art-lovers in the world.”

The H Queen’s building will be home to several acclaimed international galleries, including the David Zwirner Gallery, Hauser & Wirth, Pearl Lam Galleries, Tang Contemporary Art and Whitestone Gallery.

To mark the opening of the exhibition space in Hong Kong, Seoul Auction will hold an exhibition of two renowned Asian artists, Lee Ufan and Yayoi Kusama. The exhibition will run from Thursday through March 17.

Founded in 1998, Seoul Auction went public in 2008, the year the auction entered the Hong Kong market. In 2015, the auction house sold artworks worth 108 billion won ($98.3 million), marking an increase of 58 times compared to the 1.8 billion won worth of artworks sold in 1999.

The number of art pieces sold also increased 17 times to 3,465 in 2017 from 207 in 1999.

Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)