CI KIM’s artistic practice unfolds through multiple layers of themes—including the self, memory, desire, materiality, power, nature, and consumer culture—rather than adhering to a single fixed subject. At the core of his work is not the representation of specific objects or narratives, but the transformation of lived experience and social reality into visual form through a wide range of materials and images. In this respect, his practice is rooted in autobiographical experience while simultaneously extending beyond the personal to engage with the symbols and material conditions of contemporary society.
 
In the early series ‘SELF’, the artist directly explored his own identity by positioning himself as the primary subject of investigation. In subsequent series such as ‘DREAM’ and ‘RAINBOW’, intangible concepts including dreams, hope, and memory were translated into increasingly abstract visual languages, allowing the self to evolve from an individual figure into the embodiment of accumulated experience. The ‘CHARCOAL’ series further expanded this inquiry through the symbolic presence of the tiger and the materiality of charcoal, where primal vitality and symbolic meaning coexist within a single pictorial space.
 
Later series including ‘TOMATO’, ‘STEEL’, and ‘CARDBOARD’ introduced familiar everyday materials as primary artistic media. These works resonate with the legacy of contemporary art that elevates ordinary objects into artistic subjects, while simultaneously functioning as vehicles through which the artist projects his own experiences and perceptions. For CI KIM, materials are not merely formal devices but physical traces that embody memory, time, labor, and lived experience. His conceptual concerns are therefore realized through the inherent qualities and histories embedded within these materials.
 
Ultimately, the defining characteristic of CI KIM’s practice lies less in the establishment of a singular visual style than in his continuous effort to reinterpret life and contemporary existence through diverse materials and symbolic structures. Rather than forming a single linear narrative, his various series intersect to construct a broader artistic worldview that continues to evolve.

C.V

- Solo Exhibitions

2026 《That Alone Is My World》, Cheongju Museum of Art, Cheongju, Korea
2024 《RAINBOW》, ARARIO GALLERY CHEONAN, Cheonan, Korea
2023 《Truthful Objects, The Dream of Art》, Um Museum, Hwaseong, Korea
2023 《Draw and Draw》, Bin Art Space, Jeju, Korea
2022 《Overcome Such Feelings》, ARARIO GALLERY CHEONAN, Cheonan, Korea
2021 《I Have a Dream: Part II》, ARARIO Museum Tapdong Cinema, Jeju, Korea
2020 《I Have a Dream: Part I》, ARARIO Museum Tapdong Cinema, Jeju, Korea
2019 《Voice of Harmony》, ARARIO GALLERY CHEONAN, Cheonan, Korea
2017 《Play the Fool》, ARARIO GALLERY CHEONAN, Cheonan, Korea
2015 《The Road Is Long》, ARARIO GALLERY CHEONAN, Cheonan, Korea
2013 《SAILING》, ARARIO GALLERY CHEONAN, Cheonan, Korea
2011 《Who Can Say What?》, ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL; ARARIO GALLERY CHEONAN, Seoul; Cheonan, Korea
2009 《To Make a Rainbow》, ARARIO GALLERY CHEONAN, Cheonan, Korea
2007 《Trauriger Tiger Toastet Tomaten》, ARARIO GALLERY CHEONAN, Cheonan, Korea
2005 《extra seeing》, ARARIO GALLERY CHEONAN, Cheonan, Korea
2003 《MYSELF: CI KIM》, Union Gallery, London, UK
2003 《CI KIM: Contemporary Art Continues》, ARARIO GALLERY CHEONAN, Cheonan, Korea 

 

- Group Exhibitions

2018 《Jing'an International Sculpture Project》, Shanghai, China
2014 《Really?》, ARARIO Museum in Space, Seoul, Korea
2014 《By Destiny》, ARARIO Museum Tapdong Cinema, Jeju, Korea
2010 《Art in Superstar》, Seongsan Art Hall, Changwon, Korea
2009 《Nongseong Blues》, Gwangju Museum of Art, Gwangju, Korea
2009 《Art in Superstar》, Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, Korea
2006 《Ballkünstler》, Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
2004 《Bug-Eyed: Art, Culture and Insects》, Turtle Bay Museum, Redding, CA, USA
2003 《Art Bench》, Yeouido Park, Seoul, Korea



- Collections

Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
Daelim Museum, Seoul, Korea