in Seoul, 3 new faces of Korea

Risabae, the beauty influencer

She is one of the most popular influencers and creators of beauty content in South Korea and around the world: the one who is also a K-pop singer is followed by nearly 1 million subscribers on Instagram and 2.3 million on Youtube. Star of K-beauty, she will launch, next February, her own line of cosmetics. It must be said that at 34, Risabae looks 20… This make-up artist began her career in 2014, after working for a cosmetics brand. “I started my YouTube channel to give advice, and it took off very quickly.”

ITS STRATEGY Its core target is Generation Y, attentive to its well-being. “I don’t limit myself to make-up advice, I know that I also impact people’s lives.”

HER BEAUTY TIPS “The most important thing is to have a healthy routine, to cleanse your skin well without attacking it, to protect it from the sun and to moisturize it before putting on makeup. On a daily basis, I favor a very natural make-up, with a base worked with a brush. To have beautiful skin, you must above all observe a healthy lifestyle – eat well, sleep… – but also touch your face as little as possible with your fingers, because of germs. And remember to change the covers of your pillows very regularly.

On Instagram: @risabae_art; and youtube.com/risabae

Cheetah, the K-rapper

She receives us on her terrace, in Itaewon, north of Seoul, with tea and traditional cakes. Her nickname, Cheetah (cheetah), describes this strong personality, one of the rare female artists who has established herself on the Korean hip-hop scene. Revealed in 2015 by the show Unpretty RapstarKim Eun-young (real name) raps “unity, love, sharing”.

HIS AMBITION At 32, the one who performs on the stages of South Korea, Japan, the United States and Australia has just signed a contract to expand her tours to Europe. “When I started in hip-hop, ten years ago, it was a man’s world, difficult to integrate. Now they have real competitors in front of them.”

HIS SENSE OF PARTY A passionate clubber, she loves meeting her audience. His favorite address in the Korean capital? “Jack’s Bar, in the cosmopolitan district of Itaewon. In Korea, bars are often reserved for age groups, but at Jack’s, everyone mixes: I can even go there with my mother!

Instagram: @dhdldzlzl; and youtube.com/cheetahofficial

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Bo Young Song, the gallery owner open to the world

She is the general manager of Kukje (a word that means international) art gallery, founded by her mother-in-law, Hyun-Sook Lee, in 1982. “Since then, we have expanded to three locations in Seoul. Our primary mission was to build bridges between the Korean and international scenes. We presented emblematic figures of modern and contemporary art, such as Alexander Calder or Anselm Kiefer, long before national institutions could drain such artists into the country.

APPROACH “We defend major contemporary Korean artists, including the masters of Dansaekhwa (monochrome painting movement, editor’s note) Lee Ufan, Park Seo-Bo, Ha Chong-Hyun, Kim Yong-Ik, Wook-kyung Choi, and, in the young generation, Suki Seokyeong Kang.”

AN ARTIST TO FOLLOW “Haegue Yang, whose colossal installation of Venetian blinds can be seen at the Tate Modern, London. This globe-trotting artist is one of the most important of her generation. She brings a personal and multi-artistic approach to the concepts of subjectivity, culture and time.

kukjegallery.com