Im Youngzoo has created a commission for this year’s Frieze Seoul after winning the Frieze Seoul Artist Award 2025.
Her work Calming Signal is a three-channel video installation which explores how humans use learned and repeated gestures in times of collective unease. The term “calming signals” was coined by the Norwegian dog trainer Turid Rugaas to describe certain instinctual, repetitive behavioural patterns exhibited by dogs to de-escalate or avoid aggressive encounters, such as turning their heads.
Born in 1982, Im works across video, installation, performance and virtual reality. She has also been shortlisted for the 2025 Korea Artist Prize and her work is currently being shown at MMCA Seoul (until 1 February 2026).
Im is the third winner of the Frieze Seoul Artist Award, supported by Bulgari, which allows a South Korean-based artist to “realise a new commission at a pivotal moment in their career”, following Woo Hannah and Goen Choi.