The Living Torso 2016- 2019
The Living Torso 2016- 2019
The Living Torso Project is a series of photographs that focus on drawing and contain the different types of body shapes and sizes in the same posture.
The figures provide both form and content for the matter of gender. The selected body is described as a torso mannequin in the state of decomposition; no arms, legs and head. This means that it is exploring the human body both inner and outer by implementing a fragmented body. Acquiring the specific posture aims to reconstruct a deficient beauty and express an ambiguous boundary as taking a juxtaposition of male/female.
The Living Torso Project is a series of photographs that focus on drawing and contain the different types of body shapes and sizes in the same posture.
The figures provide both form and content for the matter of gender. The selected body is described as a torso mannequin in the state of decomposition; no arms, legs and head. This means that it is exploring the human body both inner and outer by implementing a fragmented body. Acquiring the specific posture aims to reconstruct a deficient beauty and express an ambiguous boundary as taking a juxtaposition of male/female.
ARTIST BIO
Minju Kim (b. 1988) is a South Korean artist based in London. She is an emerging painter and sculptor who has exhibited her work internationally. Her work recently exhibited in Adidas London and participated in the charity art auction held in Sotheby’s London in 2021 and raised a significant amount of funding.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Inspired by human anatomy and psychoanalytic theory, I explore desire as a main subject matter, alongside the concept of life and death. The human body and its desires are woven into a continuous loop of life and death; this mortal being exploring its own desire is a recurring theme in my work, especially in drawing from my own personal experiences. Fascinated by the distortions of the human body, using my own as reference, observing the ways it has altered through my medical history. My study of the female body and anatomy informs my expression of the figure internally and externally, extended in shape and pattern evocative of life and death.
Consciousness and corporeality are inevitable elements of human life. In diverse media, my work attempts to embody the sublimation of the human desire into perpetuity.
EDUCATION
2015-2017 MA Visual Arts: Illustration (Distinction), Camberwell College of Arts, London, UK
2013-2015 BA (Hons) Creative Direction for Fashion, London College of Fashion, London, UK
2007-2013 BFA in Printmaking, College of Fine Art, Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea
EXHIBITIONS
[SOLO SHOW]
2022 Between the Lines, The Great Art, London, UK
2022 Dosage of Lemon, Hackney Downs Studios, London, UK
2018 Anatomy of Desire, Gallery Different, London, UK
[GROUP SHOW]
2022
FLUX Exhibition June by The Flux Review, The Design District, London, UK
International Women’s Month by Adidas x Creative Debuts, Adidas Ldn, London, UK
Cluster Photography & Print, Oxo Tower Bargehouse, London, UK
Ways of Seeing, The Holy Art, London, UK
2021
Roy’s Art Fair November, Oxo Tower Bargehouse, London, UK
Drawing a Line under Torture, Art Auction by Freedom From Torture, Sotheby’s, London, UK
The Void of Desire: Minju Kim x Eugene Wood, The Truman Brewery, London, UK
Print it, Aire Place Studios Illustration exhibition, Leeds, UK
Roy’s Art Fair August, Oxo Tower Bargehouse, London, UK
CrypTOKYO, NFT Exhibition, UltraSuperNew Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Oblivion, Virtual exhibition by The Holy Art
V1 Virtual exhibition by Flux Review
VAA International online Art Exhibition by Visual Artists Association
2020
What is Art, Boomer Gallery, London, UK
Cluster Photography & Print, Ugly Duck, London, UK
B Collect Award showcase, B collect Notting Hill, London, UK
Crypto Art: The Digital Renaissance, Blockchain Art Exchange at Bloomsbury Gallery, London, UK
2019
Artrooms Awards, Melia White House Hotel, London, UK
Drawing a Line under Torture, Art Auction by Freedom From Torture, The Vinyl Factory, London, UK
Side Sleepers, 4482 Award Show, Itta space, Incheon, South Korea
Cluster Illustration Fair October, The Truman Brewery, London, UK
Unison, Cluster Illustration, Unit 5 gallery, London, UK
Cluster Art Fair May, Ugly Duck, London, UK
The Other Side of The Moon, 4482: SASAPARI, Oxo Tower Bargehouse, London, UK
Nova Prize show, Fresco Collective, New York, USA
2018 Get It Arts, 5th Base Gallery, London, UK
2017
CCW MA Visual Arts Degree Show, Camberwell College of Arts, London, UK
T'ART, Sweet Art Show, Bones and Pearl Gallery, London, UK
The Pancakes & Booze Art Show, Studio Spaces, London, UK
2016
The Dark Arts, Candid Arts Trust, London, UK
Summer Salon, Islington Art Factory, London, UK
Hand Maid, Sweet Art Show, Hoxton Arches, London, UK
Brighton Illustration Fair, The One Church, Brighton, UK
2015
The Pancakes & Booze Art Show, Studio Spaces, London, UK
Present, Raw Artists Show, 93 Feet East, London, UK
Forbidden, Guerilla Galleries at The Daniel Libeskind Space, London, UK
2012 Pan, Graduation Show, Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea
2011 The 5th KR-CN Printmaking Show, Hongik University and Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts, Seoul, S. Korea
2010 Third Year Show, Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea
AWARDS
2019 B Collect Award, Artrooms Awards, London, UK
2019 Finalist by Artrooms Awards, London, UK
2019 Shortlisted, Visual Art Open, London, UK
2019 4482 Award, Itta Space, South Korea
2019 Nova Prize, Fresco Collective, New York, USA
2019 Nominated for the Soohoh Award, Seoul, South Korea
FEATURES
Evening Standard Mag OCT 2021
Schon Magazine JUN 2021
Opening Mag APR 2021
Huf Magazine FEB 2021
Blockchain Art Exchange 2020-2021
Visual Artists Association NOV 2020
Cluster London Residency Program OCT 2020
Cluster London OCT 2020
Inside Artists SEP 2020
Art Jobs AUG 2020
The Flux Review AUG 2020
Capsule Book MAY 2020
Lady Gunn Magazine FEB 2020
The World of Interiors SEP -DEC 2019, JAN 2020
Vogue UK OCT -DEC 2019
Fresco Magazine MAR 2019