This month for the Spotlight Series feature, I went to visit New York based artist Minku Kim at his studio at the Brooklyn Navy Yards. I was first introduced to Minku by my old colleague Nicolas at Almine Rech, and we kept in touch ever since. Minku recently had his first solo exhibition with Alexander Berggruen Gallery on the Upper East Side, where he shared his foundations of painting with the world. I had the fortune of visiting his studio and getting to learn more about his practice, and ask him some questions about it all. Make sure to follow along my Instagram this week, where I style three outfits off of paintings I selected at the studio visit! Enjoy this interview with Minku and make sure to check out my Instagram for how I style his works!
Oil and Threads: When I was first introduced to your work it was through Instagram, and I found the work to be very clean and precise. After seeing your show at Alexander Berggruen earlier this Fall, I was introduced to a new body of your work where I felt less control in the paintings. When I visited the studio, you showed me both your SEP (Straight Edge Paintings) and LEP (Loose Edge Paintings) paintings. I wanted to ask you if you felt more comfortable painting SEP or LEP paintings, and why?
Minku Kim: S.E.P (2016-ongoing) and L.E.P (2018-ongoing) are like my left and right brain. I aim to have well-balanced life. I could be methodical but also impulsive in my decision makings. I feel comfortable working with S.E.Ps since I’ve been developing the series for several years now but I am constantly challenged and motivated to push myself to discover something new and different within the series. L.E.P that are varied in its use of colors and different brushworks. The series opened up all my creative output in terms of speeding up the process and allowing myself to try things that are out of my comfort zones. (Such as mixing completely unexpected colors together and using lots of browns and grey) I am more open to making mistakes and less ‘perfect’ or intentional mark. However, I do try to combine both series so that I can create some sort of an exciting balance between the two part of my traits.
O&T: At your last show, you titled the exhibition "Foundation", to show the viewer the fundamentals of your practice and it was a very formative introduction into your world. Speaking of the idea of foundations, what is the next thing you want to add to the foundations you've already paved for yourself?
MK: I have been in love affair with colors and surface quality (brush strokes) in my work. I wanted my work to emit the shimmering sense of light through the oil painting surface texture. I achieved the effects by using meticulously controlled brushworks and sometimes haphazardly applied impastos on the canvas. Now I would like to introduce and experiment more of ‘drawing’ and ‘collage’ aspect in my painting which were always there but not as evident as the elements of colors and texture. Picasso, Matisse, De Kooning and Diebenkorn all took the liberty of colors but had strict sense of ‘drawing’ in their practice. I have been obsessed with the classical beauty and proportionality which will always be important to me but it is time for me to step outside of my own definition of perfection and beauty. My work has been heavily reductive in the way I compose the pictorial space. The brush marks have been often either completely horizontal or vertical. I’d like to introduce more diverse and ‘ugly’ brush marks in my work. I want to explore kind of unfamiliar space and painterly realm on my canvas in the coming months and giving my work more context and diversity in my paint handling.
O&T: After spending time with you at your studio, and getting to speak to you more about your thought process, the idea of music came up. I loved how you spoke about your relationship to different colors to different musical tones. Could you describe your relationship to music, and how harmony in tones reflects in your approach to colors?
MK: When I was a kid, I used to daydream of being a pianist and eventually a symphonic orchestra conductor. Music has always been integrated to my morning routine, commute and part of my studio practice. Music has emotion just as visual art does and it has been a big influence in the way I think about color and space. I’ve listened to lots of classical music and jazz when I was younger. As I grew up, I’ve been extending my appreciation to almost all type of musical genre from trap to alternative music. If you only listen to certain type of music, it is likely that you will build up a weak tolerance to different genre of music. I think it is similar to visual art where if you only look at certain type of art, you will be able to appreciate different way to approach art making. In my studio, I try to also expand my color palette and make a new painting that I haven’t really used before as I sometime force myself to listen to new music each week. There are certain colors that go well together; however, I think it is an artist job to always find new way of creating space for the things that have been overlooked or haven’t been discovered. (Such as the color combination, spatial implication and sensory experience)
O&T: You have quite an extensive book collection in your studio, which is so beautiful. I think it is important to be surrounded by the ideas and works of people you admire, because the way you relate to it is different from another person. Who are three artists you feel most connected to and inspire you to continue pushing through?
MK: I aspire artists who work with wide spectrum of mediums and working methods. Pablo Picasso and Sterling Ruby are my studio practice idols. They are prolific and ambitious in their studio as I feel their creative freedom. At the same time, I am inspired by the artist like Josef Albers, Richard Diebenkorn and Piet Mondrian who have almost exclusively worked on drawings and paintings throughout their life. In the recent years, Mark Grotjahn has been on my mind since I first encounter this ‘Butterfly’ paintings at Blum and Poe’s uptown space few years ago. His works are laborious and obsessive in the way that my work engage in similar subjects such as colors, lines, brushwork and space through variations of a theme. (Ex: Perspective, horizon) I feel that he has been balancing between the idea of tight control and letting it loose in his ‘Butterfly’ and recent ‘Capri’ series. Most importantly, I feel a sense of mastery and discipline in Grotjahn’s work that I aspire too. Suzan Frecon, Katharina Grosse and James Turrell are other great artists who I pay attention to as I like to put my practice in perspective of larger art historical context; although, these artist are still in a close proximity of formal / spatial spectrum of artists who share similar interests as I do. Honestly, the artists I pay attention to are in constant flux as my studio practice evolves.
For my ‘L.E.P’ works, I’ve been thinking a lot of Claude Monet and Yves Tanguy’s work as my paintings are becoming more and more atmospheric and a bit surreal. I think of myself as a Neo-impressionist on my L.E.P series where I am capturing the the moments of my sensory memory and sharing those painterly activities on the canvas through my Instagram. I think there is something cyber-romantic (?) about this activities of making a postcard sized painting (7 x 5 inches) and making the works with sometimes a particular individual or audience in mind online.
O&T: A couple years ago you worked with Marina Testino in designing a limited edition scarf with her brand Point of View and Stone Shop, in total the capsule was three beautiful color wool scarves! Could you tell me a little bit about the process of translating your art into a material good? As well, how was the process working with someone else when it came to your designs? (Scarf is featured in images below!)
MK: I’ve met Marina Testino at Sandro x Bob Marley Capsule event in Brooklyn on March of 2018. The idea of limited edition scarf project came from Marina and Casilda of which I am still very thankful in these days. My mom once told me that I would make a beautiful scarf design by looking at my colorings and drawings when I was a kid. (I was always interested in colorings and patterns). The whole process of designing and materializing the 3 scarfs came after a bit of back and forth between Marina, myself and Casilda (owner of Stone Shop). I made color sketches then Marina and Casilda would make adjustments. I contributed with color and drawing aspect of the scarf and they suggested on which materials and sizes to be fabricated. It was an exciting and memorable experience as I would love to work on another fashion collaboration opportunities in the future.
O&T: As this is a website highlighting the love between Fashion and Art, could you share some of your favorite brands you like to purchase from?
MK: My favorite piece of clothing is from Mason Margiela. It is a black fall/winter jacket with lots of subtle details. It is both timeless and of the moment. It feels so comfortable yet empowering whenever I wear the jacket. I love ACNE pants as well. My younger sister, KangHee recently collaborated with ACNE this past season. I also have two of Kanghee x ACNE sweatshirts pieces in my closet. I would like to add The Row, Prada and Dries Van Noten to my closet at some point. I am interested in minimal & classic clothing with unexpected subtle details that are made with quality materials and elegant design.
