Biography
Seunggu KIM lives and works in Seoul, South Korea. He earned his BFA in photography from Sangmyung University, and MFA in visual art from Korea National University of Arts. Thinking photographs could show our “real world”. He would like to show how we are living and balance the unnatural elements in a single frame. He observes how we get used to and overcome social contradictions. He is interested in and records the process of people finding the “way of coexistence” despite the contradiction of Korean society. He thinks it is important to understand and interpret the social, cultural, and environmental characteristics of contemporary Korea in detail to explore the reality of today. His photographs cover everyday landscapes such as urban life, leisure culture, climate change and suburban facilities, but they reveal center and surroundings, tradition and modern, spiritual values and material desires.
Select recent milestones include: Information, Aperture Foundation; Ten by Ten, Houston FotoFest; Grand Prix Winner, Tokyo International Photography Competition; Korean Photographer’s Fellowship of the year, KT&G; The Finalist of 2018 Art Photography, Lens Culture; Supported Artist of 2019 Solo Exhibition, Filter Space; Solo and selected group Exhibitions, The Korea Society, Aperture Gallery, and The UPI Gallery in New York, Filter Space in Chicago, The Museum of Contemporary Photography of Ireland, Laney Contemporary Fine Art in Savannah, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre in Beijing
His new book, BAM ISLET, was published by KT&G Sangsangmadang in 2019.
Education
2012 M.F.A in School of Visual Arts, Korea National University of Arts, Korea
2007 Department of Photography, Sangmyung University, Korea
Solo Exhibitions
2019 Bam Islet, KT&G Sangsangmadang Gallery, Seoul
2019 Better Days, Filter Space, Chicago
2019 Better Days, The Korea Society, New York
2018 A Day Trip, Artbit Gallery, Seoul
2017 Better Days, SongEun ArtStorage: White Cube Project, Seoul
2017 City of Glass, BMW Photo Space, Busan
2016 Envisaged in a Dream, Post Territory Ujeongguk, Seoul
2015 A List of Landscapes, SongEun Art Cube, Seoul
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022 Jingyeong Sansu, Botanic Gardens, Belfast
2022 That's my World, Apfelwein Galerie, Frankfurt
2021 Zapping the Archive, Bleschunov Municipal Museum, Odessa
2021 Mapping the Multitude, Museum Centre Ploshchad Mira, Krasnoyarsk
2021 Different Dimension, City Art Centre, Novosibirsk
2021 Edition VI, Galerie Echo119, Paris
2020 Information, Fotografiska, New York
2020 BBA Photography Prize, BBA Gallery, Berlin
2020 Ten by Ten, The Silos, FotoFest, Houston
2020 Edition VI, Contour Gallery, Rotterdam
2019 KT&G SKOPF Artist of the year, GoEun Museum of Photography, Busan
2019 Beyond Boundaries, Aperture Gallery, New York
2019 Format International Photography Festival, Quad, Derby
2019 Greetings from South Korea, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing
2019 Photo London, Somerset House, London, UK
2019 Aint-Bad: Collaborations, Laney Contemporary Fine Art, Savannah
2019 Need/Want, 72 Gallery, Tokyo
2019 Need/Want, The UPI Gallery, New York
2019 Trusted Memory, St Annes Square, Belfast
2019 PhotoIreland, The Museum of Contemporary Photography of Ireland, Dublin
2019 Need/Want, No. 3, 4 Warehouse, Taipei
2018 Ring Ring Belt, Donuimun Open Creative Village, Seoul
2018 Jimei X Arles Photo Festival, Xiamen
2018 Role-playing: Rewriting Mythologies, Daegu Photo Biennale, Daegu
2017 Gyeonggi Art Prism 2017, Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art
2016 50X50, Art Sonje, Seoul
2015 Summer Love, SongEun Art Space, Seoul
2015 Our Happy day, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul
Awards(with Grants)
2023 13th Ilwoo Photo Award, Ilwoo Foundation
2022 JRNL 11, FotoFilmic
2021 JRNL 8, FotoFilmic
2020 Summer Open Artist, Aperture Foundation
2020 Open Call_First Prize, Life Framer
2019 Ten by Ten, Houston FotoFest
2019 Grand Prix Winner, Tokyo International Photography Competition
2019 Ones to Watch, British Journal of Photography
2019 Fund for Korean Art Abroad, Korea Arts Management Service
2018 Korean Photographer's Fellowship-Final Artist of the year, KT&G Sangsangmadang
2018 Selected as a 'Supported Artist of Solo Exhibition', Filter Photo
2018 Finalist of Art Photography Awards, Lens Culture
2018 Selected as an Artist for Funds to Support the Solo Exhibition, The Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture
2017 Selected as a 'Supported Artist of Solo Exhibition', GoEun Art and Cultural Foundation
2016 Selected as an Artist for funds to Support the Solo Exhibition, The Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture
2014 Selected as a 'Supported Artist of Solo Exhibition', SongEun Art and Cultural Foundation
Public Collection
2022 National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Art Bank, Korea
2022 The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia
2021 Museum Centre Ploshchad Mira, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
2020 Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, US
2020 KT&G Sangsangmadang, Korea
2018 National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Art Bank, Korea
2017 Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Korea
2017 GoEun Photo Museum, Korea
2010 Dong-gang Photo Museum, Korea
2012 한국예술종합학교 미술원 조형예술과 예술전문사 졸업
2007 상명대학교 사진학과 졸업
개인전
2019 <밤섬>, KT&G 상상마당 갤러리, 서울
2019 <Better Days>, Filter Space, 시카고
2019 <Better Days>, The Korea Society, 뉴욕
2018 <A Day Trip>, 아트비트 갤러리, 서울
2017 <Better Days>, 송은 수장고: 화이트 큐브 프로젝트, 서울
2017 <유리의 성>, BMW Photo Space, 부산
2016 <꿈에 그린>, 탈영역 우정국, 서울
2015 <풍경의 목록>, 송은아트큐브, 서울
기획 그룹전
2022 <Jingyeong Sansu>, Botanic Gardens, 벨파스트
2022 <That's my World>, Apfelwein Galerie, 프랑크푸르트
2021 <Zapping the Archive>, Bleschunov Municipal Museum, 오데사
2021 <Mapping the Multitude>, Museum Centre Ploshchad Mira, 크라스노야르스크
2021 <Different Dimension>, City Art Centre, 노보시비르스크
2021 <Edition VI>, Galerie Echo119, 파리
2020 <Information>, Fotografiska, 뉴욕
2020 <BBA Photography Prize>, BBA Gallery, 베를린
2020 <Ten by Ten>, The Silos, 포토페스트, 휴스턴
2020 <Edition VI>, Contour Gallery, 로테르담
2019 <KT&G SKOPF Artist of the year>, 고은사진미술관, 부산
2019 <Beyond Boundaries>, Aperture Gallery, 뉴욕
2019 <Format International Photography Festival>, Quad, 더비
2019 <Greetings from South Korea>, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, 북경
2019 <Photo London>, Somerset House, 런던
2019 <Aint-Bad: Collaborations>, Laney Contemporary Fine Art, 사바나
2019 <Need/Want>, 72 Gallery, 도쿄
2019 <Need/Want>, The UPI Gallery, 뉴욕
2019 <Trusted Memory>, St Annes Square, 벨파스트
2019 <PhotoIreland>, The Museum of Contemporary Photography of Ireland, 더블린
2019 <Need/Want>, No. 3, 4 Warehouse, 타이페이
2018 <Ring Ring Belt>, 돈의문 박물관 마을, 서울
2018 <Jimei X Arles Photo Festival>, 샤먼
2018 <역할극: 신화 다시쓰기>, 대구사진비엔날레, 대구
2017 <경기 아트 프리즘 2017>, 경기도 미술관, 경기
2016 <50X50>, 아트선재, 서울
2015 <Summer Love>, 송은아트스페이스, 서울
2015 <기쁜 우리 좋은 날>, 서울시립북서울미술관, 서울
선 정
2023 제13회 일우사진상 '올해의 주목할 만한 작가', 출판부문, 일우재단
2022 JRNL 11, FotoFilmic
2021 JRNL 8, FotoFilmic
2020 Summer Open Artist, Aperture Foundation
2020 Open Call_First Prize, Life Framer
2019 Ten by Ten, 휴스턴 사진비엔날레
2019 Grand Prix Winner, Tokyo International Photography Competition
2019 Ones to Watch, British Journal of Photography
2019 해외기관 초청, 협력 전시 지원, 예술경영지원센터
2018 제11회 한국사진가 지원프로그램 SKOPF 올해의 최종 작가, KT&G 상상마당
2018 필터스페이스 전시작가, 필터 포토
2018 Art Photography Awards-Finalist, 렌즈컬처
2018 서울문화재단 예술작품지원 전시작가, 서울문화재단
2017 BMW포토스페이스 전시작가, 고은문화재단
2016 서울문화재단 예술작품지원 전시작가, 서울문화재단
2014 송은아트큐브 전시작가, 송은문화재단
소 장
2022 국립현대미술관 정부미술은행, 서울, 한국
2022 푸쉬킨 미술관, 모스코바, 러시아
2021 플로샤드 미라 미술관, 크라스노야르스크, 러시아
2020 현대사진미술관, 시카고, 미국
2020 KT&G 상상마당 갤러리, 서울, 한국
2018 국립현대미술관 정부미술은행, 서울, 한국
2017 경기도 미술관, 안산, 한국
2017 고은사진미술관, 부산, 한국
2010 동강사진박물관, 영월, 한국