S.H. Kim (b. 1992, Seoul, South Korea) is currently based in New York. He received his BFA in Painting and BA in Art History and Theory from Hongik University, South Korea and his MFA in Painting and Drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Kim’s recent solo exhibitions have been held at Tiger Gallery™️ in London (October 2023), Galería Yusto/Giner in Madrid (June 2023), Studio Concrete in Seoul (October 2022), FLXST Contemporary in Chicago (September 2022) and Another Gallery in Los Angeles (July 2022).

Kim is working on his recent Explosion series, in which he reimagines explosion scenes in Japanese and American animation films from the 1970s through 2000s via oil sticks and oil pastels on canvas. By zooming in on the moment of explosion, Kim’s cinematic explosions are likened to complex abstractions, barely contained by the confines of the canvas. Born in Seoul, Kim was exposed to foreign animation films imported from Japan and the United States from an early age. His Explosion series manifests layered collisions of emotions and narratives, involving nostalgic childhood memories of his beloved animations as well as nuanced questions about identity surrounding his experiences as an Asian living in the United States. Using oil sticks and oil pastels deftly applied with bare hands and fingers, Kim’s works exude a buoyant energy and a sense of earnest intimacy. He paints directly, without sketching, building raw, intuitive, yet potently charged scenes. Before the viewer’s eyes, the exuberant surfaces shatter to unveil tension, conflict, and ultimately catharsis. Kim has stated: “Everyone experiences conflict, whether internal or external. While explosions convey conflict, they also, in a way, eradicate it. Perhaps I am trying to provide a clue to resolving various conflicts in contemporary society through the energy of the explosion.”

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