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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