“I want to give people a utopian message by painting and shaping the character’s expressions of warmth, relief, and emotions hidden in the world that are changing personally.” — Jade Kim
Jade Kim is a South Korean visual artist working in the medium of painting and sculpture. Having worked in the fields of exhibition curation and product planning for nearly a decade, Kim eventually chose to pursue his passion and became an artist.
Drawing on inspiration from his endearment for his wife, Kim created his signature character ‘Min’, who shares similar personalities, hobbies, social issues and so on with his beloved wife. With big, wide eyes, and child-like appearance, Min is often depicted amidst mesmerizing, otherworldly background of nature or starry night sky, appearing sometimes melancholic and concerning, at other times serene and etheric. Through incorporating celestial elements into his work, the artist conveys a deep sense of care and love that he has for the world and the planet that we reside on.
The present lot, Reflection, focus in on the theme of different sides of a person. The work depicts the gloomy Min floats amidst the deep blue that fittingly echoes her mood, while holding hands with her silver-haired alter ego. This other Min hovers over a passionately vibrate red background that by contrast, reflects her sense of withdrawal from the mundane world, and thus bringing into focus the humane concern that projects out of brown-haired Min’s clear, ocean blue eyes.
The two Mins represent two sides of the character, with a split down the centre of the picture that divides the blue and red, visually creating a sense of separation of the two figures. The angle of the idea of reflection leads to the notion of separation of a whole. Yet Kim remedies this division by joining the two figures together, juxtaposing the dichotomy of split and union of the same individual while exuding much love and harmony onto the canvas.
Born in 1981 in Seoul, South Korea, Kim studied at the Korea National University of Arts, and now lives and works in his hometown. Kim’s latest group shows include The Flow held at Fir Gallery, Beijing (26 March - 5 May 2022), and New Wave at JN Gallery, Seoul (26 August - 24 September 2022). His first ever solo exhibition, The Blooming Moment, with the Warehouse Gallery and Gallery Func in Shanghai (29 July - 29 August 2022), coincides with his debut in mainland China.
This is the first time that Kim’s work is offered at auction.