SEOUL — RM, the leader of South Korean pop group BTS, first visited Manhattan’s Grand Central Terminal to perform on Jimmy Fallon’s “The Tonight Show.” It was early 2020, before the coronavirus lockdown, and joined by a sizeable dance crew in the middle of the night, the seven members of BTS put on a raucous display for their single “ON” in an empty hall.
Late last year, RM returned as a civilian. “It felt really strange to see so many people at Grand Central for his second time,” he told me one afternoon recently while sitting at the Seoul headquarters. Hibe, the entertainment company behind the boy band. This time, he said, “I went with a friend, I’m just a customer buying a ticket.” They jumped on the Metro-North train to their next destination. diamond beacon, Hudson Valley minimalist art Xanadu. “It’s utopia,” he said. A room there is dedicated to his favorite artist, On Kawara. On Kawara devoted his career to creating simple, dark-coloured paintings with dates written in white.
Dia was the latest stop on an extensive art journey that 27-year-old RM has been on over the past few years as he builds an art collection and considers opening an art space. ) uses his social media posts and press reports to follow him and drive attendance to the places he hits.veteran dealer Park Kyung Mi credits the singer and rapper for making art more accessible to the general public. “He’s kind of throwing away the barriers between art institutions like galleries and museums and young people,” she said in an interview at her gallery PKM in Seoul.
RM also acts as an art supporter, lending out a terracotta horse sculpture by a Korean artist. kwon jingyu Participated in the retrospective exhibition at the Seoul Museum of Art, which was held until May, and donated 100 million won (approximately $84,000 at the time) to the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) so that the out-of-print art book can be reissued in 2020. did. Distribute them to your library. The Arts Council Korea, a government agency, subsequently named him Art Sponsor of the Year. “We are very pleased to see RM, a global influencer, an art lover,” MMCA director Youn Bummo said in an email.
Its global influence is almost immeasurable. BTS YouTube Channel Has over 70 million subscribers (another K-pop act, black pink, and RM is the only other artist), and RM has 37 million followers on Instagram alone. (MMCA has 200,000.) 35 minutes blog His documentary of a visit to the Art Basel fair in Switzerland last summer has been viewed almost 6 million times. He may be the dream ambassador for a closed and impenetrable world.
This makes it notable that his passion for the visual arts was driven by “serendipity, more chance encounters.” Sitting in his hotel room during his 2018 tour to decide what to do during his downtime, RM decided to venture into the Art Institute of Chicago, where the paintings of Seurat and Monet were his “It was like Stendhal syndrome,” he said, referring to a condition in which the art induced physical symptoms in the viewer, such as lightheadedness and a rapid heart rate. It was a shock to see it live.It was like: wow.I was looking at these works of art and it was an amazing experience.”
The already energetic musicians were especially excited whenever the subject turned to art. He was with an interpreter, but usually switched to English (he is very fluent and says he learned it by watching “Friends”). “Because of this BTS, I stopped studying when I was 17, because I was a trainee,” he said, listing all the related practices. A charismatic and quick-witted researcher, you can imagine him as either a competent politician or a beloved slightly eccentric professor.
From an early age, RM collected stamps, coins, Pokemon cards, rare stones (“nothing expensive”), and toy figures. His big KAWS “companion” stands in his recording studio in The Hive, filled with art, but much of his art is old.a George Nakashima On the table is his computer workstation, with a spare abstract painting on it. Yoon Hyung-geun — floating behind it are just three bright blobs of paint. The walls are adorned with more than 20 of his works, many of them by his major 20th-century Korean artists such as Park Sooung, Jang Utchin, and Nam June Paik.
For RM, the overseas tour has emphasized that “my roots are in South Korea” and has focused on collecting artists from a generation that experienced the Korean War, military dictatorships and economic instability. These artists are largely unknown outside the country. (According to dealers, other idols prefer well-known good artists.) World. “
The BTS leader looks like an old soul. Asked to define his tastes, he said, “I’m drawn to art that’s about eternity. It’s because of this fast-paced, hectic aura of his K-pop industry.” His interest is in the past, but he wants to learn about newer art. (his solo musicIn stark contrast, has a texture of the moment, even experimental. Doyoung Ro He said some thought the star had bought the work photographed in his post. Yet, even without specifying the location by name, RM’s posts are drawing in visitors and avid Army found his Instagram in his Ro’s own space. cylinder, He said. “How did they know this?”
Surrounded by the works of dead greats, “I feel like I’m being watched.” RM said. “I’m motivated. The works on display give me an aura, so I want to become a better person and a better adult.” We have conversations,” he said. Standing in front of Yun’s spare painting, he might ask: Yoon, are you okay? “
RM is pondering his future. Compulsory military service is on the horizon. (The band members are currently devoting time to solo projects, but their label stresses that BTS is not on hiatus.) A few months ago, RM said. Mark Spiegler The global director of Art Basel said on the fair’s podcast that he was thinking of opening some kind of art space. “I want it to be really quiet and calm, but I still have to look cool like Axel.” Axel Vervoort (Also a favorite of Kanye West, one of RM’s musical inspirations).
That space is still a ways off, but RM envisions a cafe on the ground floor and an exhibition area above, showcasing Korean and international artists in a way that appeals to young people. “I think I have something to offer as an art industry outsider,” he said.
He may only be able to claim outsider status for so long. He recently added his one at Roni Horn’s. cast glass cylinder — the translucent white of the spectrum — joined his collection and he came to be recognized as an art expert. Park, an established dealer in Seoul, said she found texts about Yoon that her gallery didn’t have in its archives. (She represents her Yun estate, and before she met RM, she was in the Army a few years ago. “I started learning them on her YouTube,” she says. I did.”)
As RM told me, Yoon had a miserable life. For political reasons he was imprisoned four times and narrowly escaped execution once. In his 40s, he began painting meditative paintings using diluted, inky amber and blue paint spread on linen and canvas. “It’s a perfect combination of Western and Eastern, or Asian or Korean styles,” RM said.
Does he have a favorite era of the artist’s work? I’m obsessed and love everything. I’m not being objective anymore,” RM said. “That’s what we call fans.”