Spotlight Artist

S.H.Kim

Midwest
S.H.Kim's headshot
Featured in New American Paintings

Artist Statement

My recent paintings investigate the structural tension between the immateriality of digital screens and the tactile reality of paint. Drawing upon 90s Japanese cel animation aesthetics, I translate flat color segmentations and dynamic forms onto monumental 78-inch canvases. My interest lies not in nostalgia, but in the absolute formal architecture of the image.

Instead of drawing outlines, I construct images through adjacent color planes, leaving subtle, unpainted gaps between them. These fissures reveal underlying colored pencil sketches and raw underpainting, breaking the graphic illusion. The execution involves a physical contradiction: approaching a massive canvas with small brushes, painstakingly adjusting each plane to seek structural inevitability.

The process begins with a calculated blueprint, but when synchronization reaches 92%, I let go, abandoning the digital reference to surrender to the material. Within the gaps and monumental scale, the narrative dissolves into pure formal tension. I strive to construct a geometric visual architecture that stands entirely on its own, inviting the viewer to experience the physical weight of the medium.

Artist's Additional works

Works shared by the artist outside of their featured New American Paintings selections

color pencil and oil on canvas
Untitled - 2026color pencil and oil on canvas, 78 x 78 inches
S.H.Kim's featured artwork 1
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S.H.Kim's featured artwork 1
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S.H.Kim's featured artwork 4
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S.H.Kim's featured artwork 1
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S.H.Kim's featured artwork 1
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S.H.Kim's featured artwork 1
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S.H.Kim's featured artwork 1
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Oil on canvas
Untitled - 2026Oil on canvas, 52 x 78 inches
S.H.Kim's featured artwork 1
Untitled_detail1
S.H.Kim's featured artwork 1
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S.H.Kim's featured artwork 1
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Oil on canvas
Night Landscape - 2026Oil on canvas, 78 x 52 inches
S.H.Kim's featured artwork 1
Night Landscape_detail1.jpg
S.H.Kim's featured artwork 1
Night Landscape_detail2
S.H.Kim's featured artwork 1
Night Landscape_installation
color pencil and oil on canvas
Untitled - 2025color pencil and oil on canvas, 78 x 78 inches
S.H.Kim's featured artwork 1
Untitled_detail1
S.H.Kim's featured artwork 1
Untitled_installation
Oil on canvas
Strike on Target - 2026Oil on canvas, 78 x 78 inches
S.H.Kim's featured artwork 1
Strike on Target_detail1
S.H.Kim's featured artwork 1
Strike on Target_detail2
S.H.Kim's featured artwork 1
Strike on Target_detail3

Resume

Education

  • MFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, US
  • BFA, BA, Hongik University, Seoul, 11, KR

Solo Exhibitions

  • SH.Kim: A Force of Color, TigerGallery, London, GB
  • In the Blink of an Eye, Galeria Yusto/Giner, Madrid, M, ES
  • Do You Read?, Studio Concrete, Seoul, 11, KR
  • Hands Remember, FLXST Contemporary, Chicago, IL, US
  • Incendiary, Another Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, US

Selected Group Exhibitions

  • Holiday, Harper's, New York, NY, US
  • Crush, Grove Collective, Berlin, DE
  • Exit 26, Monti 8, Latina, LT, IT
  • Warm Walls, Monaco, St.Louis, MO, US
  • Exit Counseling, The Green Gallery, Milwaukee, WI, US
  • SEEA 2021, Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, 11, KR
  • Lines of Thought 2020, CICA Museum, Seoul, 11, KR

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