Expect the unexpected at Kim Beom's latest exhibition

Kim Beom, the 60-year-old multimedia artist, is eclectic. He is undoubtedly one of the most representative figures of the Korean contemporary art scene, but he doesn’t hold exhibitions regularly. So it was a rare opportunity indeed when the...

"Fearless Fear" (1991) by Kim Beom [LEEUM MUSEUM OF ART]

Kim Beom, the 60-year-old multimedia artist, is eclectic. He is undoubtedly one of the most representative figures of the Korean contemporary art scene, but he doesn’t hold exhibitions regularly.

So it was a rare opportunity indeed when the Leeum Museum of Art in Yongsan District, central Seoul, announced that it would be holding his solo exhibition — the first domestically in 13 years — that collectively looks back at 70 of his works, selected from the 1990s to as recent as the 2010s.

But at the press preview on Monday, the artist apparently opted for a no-show.

“He doesn’t do interviews nor does he like to be present for reporters,” Kim Sung-won, deputy director and chief curator of Leeum, said the same day.

The reason given was that the artist is “extremely contemplative,” which is why it takes longer for him to release new works as well, director Kim said. “He’s someone who thinks the most and shows the least.”

"Objects Being Taught They Are Nothing but Tools" (2010) by Kim Beom [SHIN MIN-HEE]

The key to understanding his works is standing in front of each work for a generous amount of time and just watching it; enough to comprehend their underlying meanings.

For example, his single-channel video work “Spectacle” (2010), featuring a cheetah and an antelope in the wild, takes a turn on the predator-chasing-prey idea, as the scenes have been edited so that it’s actually the other way around.

But the reversal is only noticeable if the visitor actively takes note of what is actually going on in the video.

Kim Beom’s art world involves exploring fictitiousness and how such aspects portray themselves in reality. So they tend to rely on humor and absurdity, transcending substances, genre and even common sense.

For starters, the Leeum exhibition is titled “How to become a rock”: an excerpt from his own 1997 book “The Art of Transforming,” which gives instructions on how to achieve the feat.

"Pregnant Hammer" (1995) by Kim Beom [LEEUM MUSEUM OF ART]

Kim Beom's works are anything but predictable, at least in substance. He created “Pregnant Hammer” (1995), which is a hammer with a bulging wooden stomach. An iron, radio and kettle on a table is called “An Iron in the Form of a Radio, a Kettle in the Form of an Iron, and a Radio in the Form of a Kettle” (2002). Kim Beom arranged daily objects like an air freshener, a fan and a container of detergent on wooden chairs like they are in a classroom, complete with a blackboard and television in the front, and called it, “Objects Being Taught They Are Nothing but Tools” (2010).

Questionable though they may be, it’s Kim Beom’s way of self-reflection in that “what you see is not all of what you see” and a message to glimpse into the unknown.

“His works are an endless quest to find ways to view the world differently,” director Kim said.

"An Iron in the Form of a Radio, a Kettle in the Form of an Iron, and a Radio in the Form of a Kettle" (2002) by Kim Beom [SHIN MIN-HEE]

“How to become a rock” continues until Dec. 3. The Leeum Museum of Art is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day except for Mondays. Tickets are 12,000 won ($9.40) for adults.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]