▲ This image of BTS' leader RM is provided by his agency, BigHit Music. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE)(Yonhap)

 

SEOUL, Sept. 30 (Yonhap) -- A special exhibition showcasing BTS leader RM's personal art collection will open on Saturday (local time) at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), his agency BigHit Music said Wednesday.

 

Titled "RM X SFMOMA: Between You and Me," the exhibition will run through Feb. 7 next year and marks the first time RM's personal collection has been presented at a museum.

 

RM directly participated in the overall planning and curation of the exhibition. He selected works and developed the exhibition concept together with SFMOMA co-curators America Castillo and Kim Hyo-eun.

 

The exhibition will also feature exhibition texts and artwork descriptions written by RM in Korean and English, allowing visitors to experience the works more closely. Audio guides in Korean and English, recorded in RM's own voice, will also be available. The music played in the exhibition space was personally selected by RM.

 

About 180 works carefully selected by RM and SFMOMA will be on display. The exhibition will feature works by leading Korean modern and contemporary artists, including Yun Hyong-keun, Park Re-hyun, Chang Uc-chin, Kwon Ok-yeon, Kim Yun-shin and Do Sang-bong. Works from SFMOMA's collection by Kim Whanki, Nam June Paik, Mark Rothko, Agnes Martin, Henri Matisse and Georgia O'Keeffe will also be presented in the same space.

 

About 140 of the works are from RM's personal collection, most of which will be shown in the United States for the first time.

 

"This is the first time I am sharing my collection under my own name. I think there are few things that show a person as honestly as a collection they have built over a long period of time," RM said. "In that sense, I think this exhibition will be quite a long self-introduction."

 

"My collection contains many works by Korean modern and contemporary artists," he said. "Some of their names may still be unfamiliar outside Korea. I have collected their works with the hope of adding a better perspective and sensibility, and that process has led to this exhibition."

 

The collaboration marks the first time SFMOMA has worked with a K-pop artist since its establishment. The museum first proposed the project after taking note of RM's tastes and his longstanding interest in contemporary art.

 

"This project closely aligns with SFMOMA's direction of expanding the global conversation around art," SFMOMA Director Christopher Bedford said. "While creating space at the museum for new voices, we are also inviting visitors who have encountered contemporary and Korean art through RM to join us here."

 

BTS, the group RM belongs to, is currently on "ARIRANG," its largest-ever stadium-scale world tour in K-pop history. The group will kick off its South American leg in Bogota, Colombia, on Oct. 2-3.

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