Utopia: Byungjin Kim

BLANK SPACE is pleased to announce "Utopia," the first solo exhibition of works by Byung Jin Kim in the United States. The exhibition will open on Thursday, December 17, 2015 and continue to be on view until January 22, 2016, presenting Korean-born artist Byung Jin Kim Kim's sculptures in Toy series.

Known for his stainless steel sculptures comprised of luxury brand logos and phrases like "love" or "hope," Byung Jin Kim employs the visual motifs of American Pop art to explore themes of contemporary consumerism and globalism. Kim's seemingly optimistic sculptures satirize and address the aspect of excessiveness and disillusion in society, while examining the semiotics of names and signs in modern day culture. In his Toy series, the artist particularly revisits his childhood memories and dreams, commenting on cultural and social issues in a subtle yet poignant visual narrative.  

With delicacy and sensibility, Kim painstakingly hand-crafts, molds and welds each letter and shape, layered in high-quality paint before firing them in a kiln. Using the reflective material stainless steel to enhance stylistic tension within contemporary and traditional sculptural forms, Kim achieves elegance and complexity in his exuberant, emotionally charged works.

Byung Jin Kim's works are included and collected by various prestigious public and private institutions in Korea including National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul Museum of Art, Pohang Museum of Steel Art, Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Youngeun Museum of Contemporary Art, O'sulloc Green Tea Museum, Namsong Museum, Yang Pyeong Art Museum, Seoho Art Muesum, Hongik University Museum, Grand Hyatt Hotel, Conrad Hotel in Seoul, Palace Hotel in Seoul, and Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong.