Byung Chul Kim (; born 1974) is a South Korean artist based in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

since 2004. He works in

performance A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...

drawing Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

and

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

Life and work

Kim was born in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, South Korea. Kim grew up in the interior of South Korea and spent his youth in Seoul, where he lived in a Buddhist monastery from age 15 to 17. He first studied Western painting at Seoul's Chugye University for the Arts before studying installation, performance and video with Christian Jankowski at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart, Germany. Kim also spent one semester in the Graduate Fine Art Program Master Class at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco. He graduated from the

State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart The State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart (German: Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart) is a university in Stuttgart, Germany. Founded on 25 June 1761, and located since 1946 on the Weißenhof, the Academy, whose historical sig ...

(Germany) with a state diploma in sculpture. Kim is best known internationally for his year-long project Performance-Hotel (2009–2010), a participatory art project in Stuttgart's east. Like many of his other projects, Performance-Hotel focuses on Kim's quest for alternative means of exchange or an alternative exchange economy: in PerformanceHotel and Performance-Express (train journeys to Paris, Metz and Luxembourg, 2010–2011) a couchette or a train ticket could be obtained in exchange for a performance. In 2014, Kim was invited by the Kunsthalle Baden-Baden (Germany) to open another temporary “performance hotel” in Baden-Baden as part of the exhibition Room Service. In another project, HumorRestaurant, the guest can earn a meal in exchange for a comic performance. With these actions, the artist counters the monopoly of money in response to the financial crisis. Kim also uses drawing and video as media with which to realise his ideas. Subtle philosophical reflections inhabit these works, such as the cycle Der kleine Künstler (the little artist, cf. list of works in public collections) that use sophisticated humour to address the viewer. The main themes of his works are happiness (cf. list of works in public collections) and the cycle of life, death and existence. Traditional Buddhist themes often mix with Western influences, reflecting Kim's transcultural approach and practice. Kim has realised his performance projects in Germany, Switzerland, France, the United States and Africa. His storyboards, drawings and videos have been exhibited at the Kunstverein Zurich, Wiensowski & Harbord in Berlin, as well as the Richmond Art Center in Richmond, California.

Collections

* "Der Stein", 150 cm x 220 cm, Graphit auf Papier, 2013, Villa Merkel, Galerie der Stadt Esslingen * "Das Glück", 150 cm x 200 cm, Graphit auf Papier, 2014, Villa Merkel, Galerie der Stadt Esslingen * „Performance Express“, 80 x 60 cm, „Everybody Happy Company“, 80 x 60 cm, 2011,

Kunstmuseum Stuttgart The Kunstmuseum Stuttgart is a contemporary and modern art museum in Stuttgart, Germany, built and opened in 2005. Description The cubic museum building with 5000 m2 of display space was designed by Berlin architects Hascher and Jehle. During ...

* „Performance Hotel“, 5 Fotos, Video, ca. 30 min und Objekt, 2010,

* „Der kleine Künstler“, Video und Zeichnung, 28 min, 2007, Kunsthalle Göppingen

Literature

* ''Von Oma bis Nietzsche: Byung Chul Kim. Arbeiten 2013–14.'' Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Stuttgart 2014, . * ''Offspaces. Zur Entwicklung selbstorganisierter Räume in Stuttgart.'' In: Dietrich Heissenbüttel (Hrsg.): ''Kunst in Stuttgart.'' Hampp Media Verlag, 2013, , S. 108 ff. * Johan Holten (Hrsg.): ''Room Service – Vom Hotel in der Kunst und Künstlern im Hotel.'' Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Köln 2014, .

External links

„lacht Hier der Koch noch selbst" Bericht by Verena Mayer im Tagesspiegel

* ttp://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/inhalt.kulturprojekt-von-einem-anderen-stern.04002616-8e93-4ee0-bd70-6705393233fc.html „Von einem anderen Stern" von Mathias Becker Stuttgarter Zeitung {{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Byung Chul Living people 1974 births South Korean artists South Korean expatriates in Germany State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart alumni California College of the Arts alumni German video artists German performance artists South Korean video artists