Heesoo Kim

"I believe that it is in the artist's karma to fill what is void..."

Heesoo Kim

B.1984

Based in Seoul, South Korea

Introduction

Based on his careful observations of individuals living mundane lives, Kim explores and conveys various aspects of human existence using bold colours and uninhibited lines. Under the key theme of “Normal Life,” his works continue to raise questions about what constitutes an ordinary life. The images of people with their eyes closed or fixed somewhere else evoke diverse senses, memories, emotions, and imagination. As a result, Kim’s works urge us to recognise our own reflections in them, and thus strike a chord with a wider audience. Foregrounded against abstract backgrounds, each character reveals their own condensed narrative.

Education

2011 BFA, Advertising and Design, KONKUK University, Seoul, South Korea

Solo Exhibitions

2024
Normal Life, Unit, London, UK

2023
Monologue, Everyday Mooonday, Seoul, South Korea

2022
Normal Life, Unit, London, UK
Artbusan, Gallery Afternoon, Seoul, South Korea
Normal Life – Lovers, Gallery Kabinett, Seoul, South Korea
Can Art Ibiza, Gallery Afternoon, Ibiza, Spain

2021
Normal Life – Be Normal & People, Gallery Afternoon, Seoul, South Korea
Heesoo Kim, Platform (online), Unit, London, UK

2020
The Other Side of My Mind, Everyday Mooonday, Seoul, South Korea
Normal Life – Drawing, Herald Artday, Seoul, South Korea
Normal Life – Memo, Gallery Kabinett, Seoul, South Korea

2019
Normal Life – Day, Holocoin Studio, Seoul, South Korea
Live drawing performance with Seokcheol Yun, Seoul, South Korea

2017
Normal Life – People, Holocoin Studio, Seoul, South Korea
Normal Life, Everyday Mooonday, Seoul, South Korea

2016
Normal Life, Bang Studio, Seoul, South Korea

2014
Sketch Exhibition, Opium Studio, Seoul, South Korea

Group Exhibitions

2024
Portrait of a Man, X Museum, China
Kiaf SEOUL, Carl Kostyál, Seoul, Korea

2023
ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair, Unit, Shanghai, China
Art Tokyo, Unit, Tokyo, Japan

2022
Nassima Landau, Tel Aviv, Israel

2018
Art Supermarket, Insa Art Center, South Korea

2015
Colour on Canvas, Mimesis Art Museum, Paju, South Korea

Selected Press

2022
August ‘Heenang Heesoo Kim’s Neo-Modernist Portraits Reflect the Anxieties of Daily Life’, Artsy
‘Heesoo Kim’s Nameless Portraits Reflect Universal Human Experiences’, Ocula
June ‘Heesoo Kim: A Retreat in South Korea’, Juxtapoz

2021
September ‘Heesoo Kim: Normal Life’, Korean Kulture

2020
November ‘Heesoo Kim Explores “The Other Side of My Mind” in Latest Seoul Exhibition’, Hypebeast

Selected Collections

Lian Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland
Pizzuti Collection of the Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, USA
Sagol Family Collection, Tel Aviv, Israel
Nassima Landau Foundation, Tel Aviv, Israel
The Bunker Foundation (Rudin DeWoody Collection), West Palm Beach, USA

“Kim’s portraits queerly reflect what French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre described as “hell as being other people”. His paintings capture the tension of people struggling to keep it together beneath the weight of ordinary life.”

– Ayanna Dozier, Curator

Exhibiting his work under the overall theme of “Normal Life”, Kim prioritises capturing the pure human condition, leaving the viewer to observe innate human psychology without any overbearing pictorial stylisation. This is achieved by reducing the figures to a minimum expression, depicting them in a casual repose, executed with bold lines and a flat perspective.

Characteristic of his practice are highly compact structures and rich earthy tones that endow his large-scale paintings with a melancholic quality. By eliminating the ability to place the subjects within a concrete narrative, Kim creates a space where his characters can simply be themselves. Without a pre-written narrative the imagery becomes alluring in its peculiarity, as the viewer is left to ponder and look inward.

Selected Works

Heesoo Kim

Untitled (Five Figures II)

2024

Acrylic on canvas
164 x 132.2 (framed)

Heesoo Kim

Untitled (Man with Bust)

2024

Acrylic on canvas
98.9 x 132.1 x 4.5 cm (framed)

Heesoo Kim

Untitled (Pair with Rose and Scissors)

2024

Acrylic on canvas
164 x 114 (framed)

Heesoo Kim

Untitled (Nude Figure)

2024

Acrylic on canvas
132.2 x 164 x 4.5 cm (framed)

Heesoo Kim

Untitled (Trust)

2024

Acrylic on canvas
164 x 132.2 (framed)

Heesoo Kim

Untitled (Head III)

2024

Ceramic
20 x 18 x 20 cm

Heesoo Kim

Untitled (Four Figures)

2024

Acrylic on canvas
164 x 132.2 x 4.5 cm (framed)

Heesoo Kim

Untitled (Head II)

2024

Ceramic
21 x 18 x 21 cm

Heesoo Kim

Untitled (Five Figures I)

2024

Acrylic on canvas
166 x 134.2 x 4.5 cm (framed)

Heesoo Kim

Flower 02

2021

Acrylic on canvas

90.5 x 116.5 cm

Heesoo Kim

Flower 03

2021

Acrylic on wood

65 x 91 cm

Heesoo Kim

Untitled (Tip toeing)

2022

Acrylic on canvas
116.5 cm x 80.2 cm

Heesoo Kim

Flower 04

2021

Acrylic on canvas

41 x 52.5 cm

Heesoo Kim

Untitled (Mixed feelings)

2022

Acrylic on canvas

65 cm x 53 cm

Heesoo Kim

Untitled

2023

Oil on canvas
90 x 72 cm framed

Heesoo Kim

Flower 01

2021

Acrylic on canvas

90.5 x 116.5 cm

Heesoo Kim

Untitled

2023

Oil on canvas
90 x 72 cm framed

Exhibitions

Watch

Biography

Heesoo Kim (b. 1984) received a B.F.A in Advertising and Design from KONKUK University. Kim worked in video and photography until his career as an artist began at the age of thirty. His artistic practice focuses primarily on what it is to be human, isolating universal human experiences through bold portraiture.

Today, Kim is a pioneering artist who has had solo exhibitions with Herald Gallery, Gallery Kabinett, Everyday Mooonday and D Museum in Seoul. In 2021, Kim had a solo exhibition with Unit’s Voices platform, which he followed up with his wildly successful 2022 solo exhibition, Normal Life, with Unit. In 2023, Kim held a solo exhibition titled Monologue, with Everyday Mooonday, Seoul, South Korea. His work has been featured in various international publications including Juxtapoz and Hypebeast.

Kim’s work is included in the permanent collections of the Lian Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland, Pizzuti Collection of the Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, USA, Sagol Family Collection, Tel Aviv, Israel and Nassima Landau Foundation, Tel Aviv, Israel

View CV

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Heesoo Kim

Heesoo Kim

Introduction

Introduction

Education

Solo Exhibitions

Group Exhibitions

Selected Press

Selected Collections

“Kim’s portraits queerly reflect what French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre described as “hell as being other people”. His paintings capture the tension of people struggling to keep it together beneath the weight of ordinary life.” – Ayanna Dozier, Curator

Selected Works

Exhibitions

Heesoo Kim

ART021, Shanghai

TEN

ART TOKYO

Nassima Landau

Heesoo Kim

Watch

Biography

Explore more artists

Tyler Hobbs

Esther Janssen

Jess Allen

Stacey Gillian Abe

Joshua Hagler

Jake Wood-Evans

Bobbi Essers

Mauro C. Martinez

Ziping Wang

William Mapan

Unit, Mayfair

Press Enquiries

“Kim’s portraits queerly reflect what French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre described as “hell as being other people”. His paintings capture the tension of people struggling to keep it together beneath the weight of ordinary life.”

– Ayanna Dozier, Curator