Brian Rea at KIAF Seoul 2026 with CMay Gallery, Hall B, Booth B20
Brian Rea | Artworks at KIAF SEOUL 2026
Brian Rea is exhibiting at KIAF Seoul 2026 with Los Angeles-based CMay Gallery, alongside Nam June Paik, Eva Armisén, Daan den Houter, Brad Howe and Tim Hawkinson.
Event Information
KIAF Seoul 2026
2–6 September 2026
CMay Gallery — Hall B, Booth B20
COEX Convention & Exhibition Center. Seoul, South Korea
Brian Rea | Original Drawings
CMay Gallery returns to Seoul for the 2026 edition of KIAF with a six-artist presentation bringing together drawing, painting, sculpture, conceptual art and pioneering media art.
The gallery will present work by:
The presentation places Brian's distinctive drawing and painting practice within a notably diverse group of internationally exhibited artists — including one of the most influential figures in the history of electronic art, Nam June Paik.
What is KIAF Seoul?
KIAF Seoul — the Korea International Art Fair — is one of South Korea's principal international contemporary art fairs and has been held in Seoul since 2002.
The fair connects Korean collectors, institutions and galleries with contemporary artists and galleries from around the world. The 2026 edition marks KIAF's 25th edition and takes place at Seoul's COEX Convention & Exhibition Center during one of the busiest weeks in the city's international art calendar.
KIAF takes place alongside Frieze Seoul, creating a wider Seoul Art Week in which collectors, curators, galleries and artists from across Asia, Europe and the United States converge on the city.
For Brian, the presentation continues an established relationship with both CMay Gallery and Seoul rather than representing a first appearance in Korea.
Brian Rea and CMay Gallery
American artist and illustrator Brian Rea has worked with CMay Gallery for a number of years, developing an exhibition practice that sits alongside his internationally recognised work in illustration, publishing, fashion, film and public art.
Brian's CMay projects have included the Los Angeles solo exhibition Islands, a collection of 32 drawings and paintings, while previous KIAF presentations have also brought his work to audiences in Seoul.
His work moves easily between commissioned illustration and contemporary art. Simple lines, abbreviated figures and deceptively direct visual ideas are often used to explore relationships, anxiety, humour, loneliness, love and the small behavioural observations of everyday life.
Brian is particularly known for his long-running illustrations for The New York Times' Modern Love, alongside work for clients including Apple, Google, BMW, The New Yorker, Penguin Books, Marni, Herman Miller, Vanity Fair and Warby Parker.
Brian Rea alongside Nam June Paik, Tim Hawkinson and CMay's international artists
The group assembled by CMay for KIAF Seoul 2026 creates several interesting conversations between generations and disciplines.
Perhaps the most significant name within the presentation is Korean-born artist Nam June Paik, widely regarded as a pioneer of video art.
Paik transformed television sets, electronic imagery, performance and communications technology into artistic materials and became closely associated with the international Fluxus movement. His experiments with electronically connected culture anticipated many of the ideas that would later become central to the internet age.
Brian's drawings therefore appear within the same CMay presentation as the work of an artist who fundamentally changed how technology could function within contemporary art.
Tim Hawkinson brings another strongly experimental dimension. The Los Angeles-based artist is known for elaborate sculptures, mechanical constructions and transformations of familiar objects, with work represented in collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art, LACMA and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Spanish artist Eva Armisén creates paintings and prints centred on daily life, family, relationships and ordinary moments. Her emotionally direct approach provides an interesting parallel to Brian's own ability to extract narratives from seemingly small human experiences. Eva has developed a particularly strong following in South Korea and has exhibited extensively across Seoul and Asia.
Dutch artist Daan den Houter works across conceptual painting, installation and participatory projects, frequently questioning the conventions surrounding art objects, authorship and value.
American sculptor Brad Howe is known particularly for geometric, kinetic and architectural sculpture, including monumental public works.
Together, the six artists make the CMay booth less a presentation of a single stylistic tendency than a cross-section of distinctive contemporary practices.
From illustration to contemporary art
Brian's inclusion is particularly interesting because his career demonstrates the increasingly porous boundary between commercial illustration and contemporary fine art.
His drawings have appeared in newspapers, books, fashion collaborations and global advertising campaigns, but the same visual language also exists as autonomous drawings, paintings, murals and gallery installations.
Brian has exhibited in Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Mexico City, Seoul and Barcelona, including work at the Fundació Joan Miró.
His relationship with Korea extends beyond KIAF. Previous projects have included work in Seoul for Korean skincare company ISOI, while Seoul has become one of the international cities in which his exhibition practice has developed.
The 2026 CMay presentation therefore adds another chapter to an existing connection between Brian, the gallery and South Korea.
About CMay Gallery
CMay Gallery is a contemporary art gallery based on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles.
Its programme combines American and international contemporary artists with a particularly strong connection between the Los Angeles and Asian art worlds.
The gallery's roster includes Brian alongside artists including Nam June Paik, Eva Armisén, Brad Howe and Daan den Houter, making its participation at KIAF a natural extension of the gallery's international programme.
Visitors to KIAF Seoul 2026 can find CMay Gallery in Hall B, Booth B20 at COEX from 2–6 September 2026.
