Gallerist Ro Doo-yong poses at his space CYLINDER ONE in Bongcheon-dong, Gwanak District, Seoul, on July 16, which recently hosted a solo exhibition by emerging artist Yang Byeo-ri titled “Sedimentary Basin.” Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
33-year-old gallery owner Ro Doo-yong puts emerging artist Lee Jong-hwan in the spotlight at Frieze Seoul
By Park Han-sol
Nestled between a home furnishings store and a photography studio, a sleek, glass-clad white cube stands out as an unusual sight in Seoul’s Bongcheon-dong, Gwanak District. This commuter town is not exactly known for its art galleries, unlike the city’s more culturally vibrant neighborhoods such as Samcheong-dong, Hannam-dong and Cheongdam-dong.
But it was precisely in this inconspicuous place, far away from commercial glitz and glamour, that the meteoric rise of 33-year-old self-made gallery owner Ro Doo-yong began.
In 2020, after a four-year stay in Europe, where he earned a Masters in Sculpture at the Royal College of Art in London and completed a residency in Athens, Ro returned to his hometown. At first he expected his homecoming to be short-lived – a preparatory phase before settling permanently in the UK as an artist.
However, the COVID-19 lockdowns disrupted his plans. Forced to stay longer than planned indefinitely, Ro looked for a space he could temporarily use as an artist’s studio and stumbled upon the little-trafficked spot in Bongcheon-dong.
“That was around the time I started thinking about what it meant to be a young artist in Korea. I was disillusioned with the constant cycle of open calls and competitions that defined the art world here. I also felt a significant discrepancy between the context of my work and that in Korea,” he said in an interview with The Korea Times.
Unable to find a venue to show his video work, he decided to hold a solo exhibition in his studio. But fate played another trick on him when unexpected structural damage made it impossible to open the exhibition on time.
Faced with this setback, Ro found himself at a crossroads.
Then, out of the blue, artist Lee Won-woo and technician Kim Min-seo approached him and asked him to rent his space for an experimental exhibition. When he heard their offer, he decided to offer it for free.
Installation view of “AI VS AI” by Lee Won-woo and Kim Min-seo at CYLINDER ONE in 2020 / Courtesy of CYLINDER
“AI VS AI,” opening in November 2020, is a compelling juxtaposition of Kim’s data-driven “artificial intelligence” and Lee’s “artistic intelligence” robot, which spontaneously created portraits of gallery visitors.
And this show marked the humble beginning of CYLINDER and Ros’ new life as a gallery owner.
Four years later, CYLINDER has become one of the most distinctive and rising trendsetters in the Seoul gallery scene.
Many of the artists featured in this program are about the same age as Ro or younger.
“From the beginning, my goal was to support young creatives with potential who have not yet had the chance to exhibit their work and be represented in a gallery, so that they do not face the same problems as me,” he explained.
“Major exhibitors in Korea still do not take on the role of promoting and supporting emerging creatives. I see CYLINDER and its artists as ‘shadow boxers’ from the periphery of the art world hierarchy. Our main motto and mindset – and ultimately our most powerful weapon – is to attack the art industry from the fringes when you least expect it.”
Installation view of “TORQUE 4 / MANETTINO DIAL” featuring Kim Seo-hyun, Kang Min-seo and Cho Hye-yun at CYLINDER ONE in 2024 / Courtesy of CYLINDER
Installation view of “TORQUE 2 / NEUTRAL STEER” by Rim Park, Wang Ho-yeong and Kwon Hoe-chan at CYLINDER ONE in 2022 / Courtesy of CYLINDER
This curatorial assignment led him to create CYLINDER’s annual signature series “TORQUE”. Since 2021, the gallery has started each year with a group exhibition of creatives who have just completed their bachelor’s degree.
When he launched the initiative a few months after the gallery opened, he was confronted with a series of questions that essentially boiled down to the question, “Who are you to select and exhibit the works of recent graduates?”
“I didn’t have an answer for them,” Ro admitted. “But in this space that I pay rent for, I wanted to showcase the emerging artists whose work caught my interest. So I did it. I mean, what was stopping me other than my own time and resources?”
Installation view of artist Lee Jong-hwan’s solo exhibition “HYPERCUBE” at CYLINDER TWO in 2023 / Courtesy of CYLINDER
One up-and-coming painter whose career has flourished alongside Ro’s gallery is 30-year-old Lee Jong-hwan.
In February 2021, he was featured in the first “TORQUE” exhibition series titled “GEAR SHIFT”. His dynamically structured abstractions have been featured in major domestic art fairs in the following years, including The Preview Seongsu 2022 and Art Busan 2023.
This September, Lee will have a solo presentation in the Focus Asia sector of Frieze Seoul—the same area where CYLINDER made a splash last year when it won the Focus Asia Stand Prize for its compelling presentation of Yoo Si-nae. Yoo’s installation consisted of an altarpiece and smaller futuristic mythological paintings, only intermittently visible behind grey curtains.
“To give a brief hint about our experimental booth setup this year, we will incorporate mathematical elements, focusing mainly on the idea of pinpoint accuracy. The theme will also explore sensory perception, which can be summarized as ‘the eye of the painting,'” said Ro.
CYLINDER made waves at Frieze Seoul last year when it won the Focus Asia Stand Prize for its solo presentation of Yoo Si-nae. Courtesy of Lets Studio, Frieze
Another artist, Rim Park, who participated in the second edition of “TORQUE” with “NEUTRAL STEER,” was introduced to the international art market by the gallery at this year’s Liste Art Fair Basel, the groundbreaking satellite event that runs parallel to the prestigious Art Basel. Her swirling pieces, which seem to hover between painting and sculpture, sold out, including a notable acquisition by a mega-gallery based in the US and Mexico. It is also worth mentioning that CYLINDER and P21 were the first Korean exhibitors ever invited to participate in Liste Art Fair.
Reflecting on these successes, he added: “I can now tell the skeptics that this so-called ‘risky’ approach of creating a niche for the newcomers to the art world can work if you really try it with a clear vision.”
Installation view of CYLINDER’s booth at this year’s Liste Art Fair Basel, featuring the works of Jang Jong-wan and Rim Park / Courtesy of CYLINDER
Installation view of artist Rim Park’s solo exhibition “Last Mors” at CYLINDER ONE in 2023 / Courtesy of CYLINDER
As a self-made gallery owner without generational wealth or financial backing, Ro was and remains a one-man operation at CYLINDER.
In addition to discovering artists at home and abroad, curating exhibitions and organizing trade fair stands, he is responsible for basic maintenance of the premises, invoicing, shipping preparations as well as public relations and sales promotion.
It’s a grueling work schedule, but the gallery’s visible upward trend is what drives him to keep going. And as CYLINDER began to make headway in Korea’s exclusive gallery ecosystem with its boldly unorthodox approach, Ro was able to open a second space, CYLINDER TWO, in the busier Yongsan district in 2023.
Installation view of “Swelled Sun: How to Sense the Invisible” by Kyungmin Sophia Son at CYLINDER ONE in 2023 / Courtesy of CYLINDER
For the future, he plans to keep the original CYLINDER ONE as a springboard for the careers of younger artists and transform CYLINDER TWO into a space for more established, mid-level colleagues.
“For the audience, I hope that CYLINDER can be a place where they don’t feel intimidated to approach a work of art. CYLINDER ONE, for example, is already visited by local children aged 10 or younger,” he noted. “We have also hosted projects that transformed the gallery into a techno club (‘Detox.Bar’) or a free tattoo shop (‘Crystal Scratch’), exploring the exhibition theme of imprinting in both a metaphorical and physical sense.”
The art world is now watching closely to see where this young dealer, his artists and his gallery will go next.
Installation view of “Silent Approach” by dajuro studio at CYLINDER ONE in 2022 / Courtesy of CYLINDER
