RM of BTS will present his personal art collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in October, bringing modern Korean art into dialogue with the global art scene.
The exhibition “RM x SFMOMA” will run from Oct. 3 to Feb. 7, featuring around 200 works from both RM’s collection and the museum’s holdings. Many of the works have never been shown in the US, according to the museum.
“We live in an age defined by boundaries. This exhibition at SFMOMA reflects those boundaries: between East and West, Korea and America, the modern and the contemporary, the personal and the universal,” RM said in a statement on the museum’s website.
“I don’t want to prescribe how these works should be seen; whether out of curiosity or study, all perspectives are welcome. My only hope is that this exhibition can be a small but sturdy bridge for many.”
The exhibition is co-curated by RM (Kim Namjoon); America Castillo, curatorial project manager at SFMOMA; and Kim Hyo-eun, assistant curator at SFMOMA.
“RM is a huge fan of Korean artist Yun Hyong-keun and is said to have paid particular attention to the presentation of Yun’s works in this exhibition,” a person familiar with the matter told The Korea Herald.
Along with Yun, key Korean artists represented in RM’s collection include Park Rehyun, Kwon Ok-yon, Kim Yun-shin, To Sang-bong and Chang Ucchin.
“RM x SFMOMA will highlight resonances and themes shared among these works and complementary SFMOMA collection artworks by Korean artist Kim Whan-ki as well as American and European artists such as Mark Rothko, Agnes Martin, Henri Matisse, Georgia O’Keeffe and Paul Klee,” the museum announced on its website.
RM shared in a social media post in October that he received the offer from the museum in late 2024, and was so excited that he spent time brainstorming various ideas.
“Since I began visiting museums in 2018, I’ve been learning and collecting step by step, and it feels both humbling and meaningful to now prepare this exhibition … I will do my best to create an experience that feels enjoyable, refreshing and worth your time,” he wrote on Oct. 3.
Meanwhile, SFMOMA will sign a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday with the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, to strengthen cooperation across exhibitions, collections, research and educational programs, expanding international collaboration.
