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
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
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