Dew Kim (b. 1985 in Seoul, South Korea) received a BFA in Metalsmithing and Jewelry from Konkuk University in South Korea in 2013, and graduated his MA in Sculpture from the Royal College of Art in London, UK in 2016. He is currently based in Seoul.
Kim has repeatedly described his practice in terms of queerness, for its critical engagement with norms of gender and desire, and its irreverent references to queer popular and sexual cultures. He explores the meaning of beings excluded and discarded from the world moving towards normality, and the intense impulsive energy generated there. He also visualizes the queer narrative through the process of transforming the body by objectifying himself, and attempts to break the boundaries of the social structure and binary thinking.
His work has been displayed across Europe, South America, and Asia; more recently, he has exhibited in various institutions in Korea, including Seoul’s Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. Kim is the recipient of the Rainbow Foundation Ivancity Queer Culture Fund (2021), Center Stage Artists in Early Career Stage (2020), Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture Project Grant (2020), Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture The First Art Creation Support (2018), CICA Young Korean Artists (2017), Winter Pride Emerald Winter Pride Art Awards (2016), and the Royal College of Art Overseas Bursary (2015).
Recent exhibitions include “Retrograde” (Galerie du Monde, Hong Kong, 2022); “Queer East Film Festival” (Barbican Centre, United Kingdom, 2022); “Ziggy Stardust” (N/A, South Korea, 2022); “Hardner” (Eulji Art Center, South Korea, 2022); “Joy of Singing” (Alternative Space Loop, South Korea, 2021); “Ghost Coming 2020 {X-ROOM}” (Ilmin Museum of Art, South Korea, 2020); “Asia Project: Looking for Another Family” (National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), South Korea, 2020); “Fire and Faggot” (Artist Residency TEMI, South Korea, 2019); and “Purple Kiss ♡” (Archive Bomm, South Korea, 2018).
