CI KIM

The most striking aspect of CI KIM’s practice is the use of recycled objects. Over the years, KIM has obsessively and selectively been collecting various used items from his daily life. Spending much of his time alone as a child, KIM often found himself identifying with unwanted objects that had served their purpose and later devoted himself to the idea of breathing life into discarded and neglected objects. Through this exhibition, the artist highlights works that incorporate images and text from various print material such as newspapers, magazines, postcards, and posters.

The countless mail that the artist receives daily has long been not only a source of inspiration but also the foundation for his practice. The unique layout of each design, which act as a constant artistic stimulus for KIM, is printed on paper with varying textures that has been meticulously selected by professionals and feature images that use high quality ink alongside crisp and sophisticated fonts.

Six large-scale paintings from the coffee series, which feature cover images from popular magazines such as Rolling Stone and GQ, will be presented in this exhibition. Elements of mass media and popular culture, such as the faces of celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio, Adele, and Suzy from Miss A, combined with painterly touches fill the canvas, creating a strangely familiar scenery that draws the audience closer. Newspapers, which are discarded after a single day, play an important role in KIM’s work. The pages of magazines and papers, which are initially used to prevent paint from overflowing or spilling onto the floor, are given new life as standalone works.

Sculpted in neon, the phrase ‘A time of suffering is followed by dreams’ is displayed on the fourth floor. This work reads as a testament to CI Kim’s earnest passion in his pursuit for creativity, holding solo exhibitions each year for the past four years. For KIM, being an artist means silently enduring the growing pains as he works towards his dream. Through the exhibition title Overcome Such Feelings, he wishes to shine a light on a series of emotions and moments of fear that experiences as he creates a work of art from an empty canvas: a common experience not only for KIM but also for many artists. Overcome Such Feelings invites the viewers to share this unique opportunity with the artist through various themes of dream, hope, pain, death, and survival.

In addition to the exhibition, eight types of shirts, produced in collaboration with KOLON’s menswear brand ‘series;’ will also be presented. CI KIM, who has always had an interest in fashion has previously designed various items of clothing and sunglasses. However, for this project, he has creatively transformed each element, breaking away from the existing method of simply printing an image on a shirt. The designs feature various unique functions necessary for modern society, such as large built-in pockets for storing masks, the shortened left sleeve, which reveals the wrist, eliminating the inconvenience of having to roll it up when checking the time, and a long shirt that can be worn inside of a jacket for various events. The shirts will be available in all KOLON ‘series;’ stores as well as in Arario’s art shops located in Arario Gallery Cheonan, Arario Museum Seoul, and Jeju. The exhibition will be held from 24 June 2022 to 16 April 2023 at Arario Gallery Cheonan.

Working between Seoul and Jeju, CI KIM has held a total of 13 solo exhibitions and has participated in exhibitions at institutions such as the Seoul Arts Center, Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig, ARARIO MUSEUM in Space, and Topdong Cinema.