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Minjung Kim

Minjung Kim Born in Gwangju, South Korea, in 1962, Minjung Kim began studying calligraphy and watercolor painting at an early age before majoring in oriental painting at both undergraduate and graduate levels at Hongik University in Seoul. Drawn to Italian art, she moved to Milan and graduated from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in 1991. There she drew inspiration from artists such as Constantin Brâncusi, Carl Andre and Brice Marden, and from Western artists who engaged with Oriental painting, notably Paul Klee and Franz Kline. Their influence led her away from the figurative tradition of her country of origin towards an investigation of the expressive value of marks and maculas, which combine with the "process-based view of the world" and the ability to "channel the energy" she had learned through calligraphy. 

Working on mulberry Hanji paper, she began by expressing musical rhythm through ink, and later went beyond hand-drawing, committing herself to the natural lines created by candle light or incense burn. Her exploration of the interrelationship between Oriental and Western techniques and conceptions continues in her practice. She always executes her pictorial work on the floor, in keeping with Oriental tradition, because both literally and metaphorically the ground is the basic support for all painting. In her works, since 1998 on overlaid layers of paper, she burnt sections of them to generate an effect of three-dimensionality, to provide the viewer with a chronological dimension, and to indicate layers of time symbolized by the layers of paper. The burnt edges create a quivering condition that reveals the forms as they flourish, change, are overshadowed and then re-emerge from the background, immersed in those resounding spaces that embrace, contain and connect them all. 

Over the past three decades, Kim has exhibited widely across Italy, Switzerland, China, the United Kingdom, the United States and Mexico, establishing herself internationally within the field of contemporary art. Her project The Light, The Shade, The Depth, shown at Palazzo Caboto in Venice and curated by Jean-Christophe Ammann, received significant international acclaim for its refined exploration of light, shadow and layered paper surfaces. Kim also participated in the Gwangju Biennale in 2004, 2018 and 2023 further reinforcing her presence within major global art dialogues. 

She has exhibited at museums including Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan (2025); Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Seoul, South Korea (2025), Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France (2024); RISD Museum, Providence, RI, USA (2022, 2023); Hill Art Foundation, New York, NY, USA (2020); Princeton University Art Museum, NJ, USA (2020); Langen Foundation, Neuss, Germany (2019); The British Museum, London, UK (2019); White Cube, London, UK (2018); Asia Society, New York, NY, US (2018); Gwangju Museum of Art, Gwangju, South Korea (2018); Musée des Arts Asiatiques, Nice, France (2017); Hermès Foundation, Singapore (2017); Gallery Hyundai, Seoul, Korea (2017, 2021, and 2025); and MACRO (Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Roma), Rome, Italy (2012). 

Her work is represented in public collections including The Tate Modern, London, UK; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, US; The British Museum, London, UK; Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea; Princeton University Art Museum, NJ, US; RISD Museum, Providence, RI, US; Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France; Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, US; Asia Society, New York, NY, US; Fundación Helga de Alvear, Cáceres, Spain; Swiss Re Art Collection, Zürich, Switzerland; Fondazione Palazzo Bricherasio, Turin, Italy; and OCI Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea.

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