A woman stands by a painting at the South Korean exhibit at the International Contemporary Art Fair
© AFP/File Philippe DesmazesMADRID (AFP) - When ARCO started out in 1982 it was barely as big as a Damien Hirst-sized spot but it has since grown exponentially to become a top address for collectors and exhibitors.
While a couple of what Hirst has termed his "stupid dead animals" were also to be seen at the IFEMA exhibition it was the 15-gallery-strong Korean contingent which took centre stage.
Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia showed a visibly impressed visiting President Roh Moo-Hyun around the venue prior to Thursday's official opening of the fair's 26th edition.
When the fair began life it attracted some 25,000 visitors over 5,000 square metres of galleries, but both visitors and the space allocated have risen five-fold since and now the event is a leading attraction on the European calendar.
A man admires South Korean art on display in Madrid
© AFP/File Philippe DesmazesSmall wonder, then, that 15 Korean galleries pitched camp at the IFEMA congress centre near Madrid airport to show off artists such as Kyung Tack Hong, a 39-year-old "pop" artist whose "Funkchestra," a blending of funky and orchestra, blends a love of pop music with visual art.
Taking the twin themes of hope and pain, he has contributed a series of vivid, fluorescent acrylic and oil on canvas murals to demonstrate the "hallucination and illusionism" of funk culture, a spokeswoman for the Seoul and Hong Kong-based Cais Gallery told AFP.
The multicoloured murals certainly grab the attention of bystanders, with "hope" and "pain" messages in bold lettering.
"Do me baby like U never done before," reads another.
For those with 11,000 euros (15,000 dollars) burning a hole in their pocket "Stuttering Abstract," Choi Sun Myoung's computer-generated 3-D cube revolving on a wooden frame-mounted screen, is for sale.
The work contains the word "Abstract" spread 36 times uniformly across each face of the cube. Every few minutes, the letters break up in a fluttering cascade of blue.
A work of art by South Korean artist Kang Il-Joong
© AFP/File Philippe DesmazesNoh Sang-Kyoon has spent much of the past 14 years making a name for himself in New York at the city's Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery.
But here, his multicolor fiberglass and polyester resin Buddha heads were part of Seoul's Gallery Simon contribution to ARCO.
"The heads are like a whole, a circular, infinite concept," Noh told AFP.
"It's about the concept of lightness, too. My art is an extension of international contemporary society, contemporary philosophy.
Noh says contemporary art may often look like it is out to shock, something he denies.
"The intention is not to shock but to gain people's interest and introduce them to their world," Noh told AFP.
Seoul's Cais Gallery showcases Bo Min Kim's ink on linen -- one depicting citizens pleasureboating on a lake in duck-shaped vessels against an imposing mountain backdrop.
The Art Park Gallery meanwhile showcases women artists such as Sun-Rae Kim, a graduate of the Myung Women's University in Seoul who is based in Germany.
Her works include Friends of Tscho-Young, a series of coloured straw figures which could be described as contemporary art meets the Teletubbies, the wacky children's cartoon characters.
Workers put up a painting at the international contemporary art fair in Madrid
© AFP/File Philippe DesmazesCurie Chung, a graduate of the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts in Paris, has contributed to the Art Park Gallery with a series of acrylic on canvas works showing everyday household objects, as well as a giant hour glass "floating" through a house.
"This is a depiction of ordinary life but in zero gravity. There are also birds and a plane, symbols of freedom. But the everyday maelstrom of workaday objects show that we cannot be totally free without work," explains Art Park director Park Kyuhyeong.
Some of the Chinese work at ARCO is no less arresting.
From a distance Liu Jianhua's wide jade green and yellow decorative plates look especially graceful -- yet closer inspection shows the female figures lying on colourful ceramic beds of flowers are headless.
Wang Guangyi's Methodology of People War oils on canvas are stark, Cold War-period educational illustrations, where revolutionary guards are depicted teaching people how to protect themselves from attack while, on an adjacent tableau, an old woman hangs out her washing.
©AFP