BTS’ RM’s makes curatorial debut at SFMOMA
BTS leader RM, whose real name is Kim Namjoon, is making his curatorial debut with ‘Between You and Me’, an exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) opening on October 3 and running until February 7, 2027.
The exhibition marks RM’s first time as a co-curator and brings together 142 works from his personal collection alongside 36 works from SFMOMA. The exhibition features nearly 200 works by Korean and international artists across paintings, sculpture, furniture, ceramics, textiles and animation.
The artists represented include To Sangbong, Yun Hyong-keun, Mark Rothko, Chang Ucchin, Henri Matisse, Georgia O’Keeffe and Nam June Paik.
Rather than presenting a chronological history of Korean art, the exhibition brings together artists from different periods and cultural backgrounds. SFMOMA co-curator Hyoeun Kim said the intention was to allow the works to “have a conversation together”.
RM’s interest in art developed further after a 2018 visit to the Art Institute of Chicago during a BTS tour. His engagement with the art world has since included a donation of approximately $80,000 in 2020 to the Korean National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Foundation to support the production and distribution of Korean art books for public and school libraries.
In 2022, he narrated an audio guide for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s ‘The Space Between: The Modern in Korean Art’. In June this year, the National Museum of Korea appointed him as its first Global Public Relations Ambassador.
The SFMOMA exhibition is divided into eight sections: Bluewater, Friendscape, Home, Photobuddha!, People, Passion, I Don’t Know, But I Like It and Umber.
One section, I Don’t Know, But I Like It, reflects RM’s personal approach to collecting. The room features works and objects ranging from abstract art and photography to animation, including a small Pikachu animation cel.
Explaining the room’s title, RM said he had repeatedly been asked why he liked the works gathered there but found it difficult to articulate his reasons. “So, I just made a room instead,” he wrote.
The Pikachu piece also carries a personal significance for RM. On a museum marker accompanying the work, he wrote, “This Pikachu looks a little lonely.” He compared the character’s stillness as an animation cel with his own experience of constantly being in motion, adding, “Even Pikachu needs a break.”
During his opening remarks to the media, RM described himself as “a very, very confused person” and spoke about how he has leaned on art while feeling as though he was “always drifting and floating somewhere”.
The exhibition also reflects his interest in the relationship between art and everyday life. “They’re simply things that I like,” RM wrote in the exhibition. “I don’t know why, I just like it. And honestly, that’s enough.”
The exhibition has already drawn interest from BTS fans, known as ARMY, with fans attending the media and donor-only preview and sharing handmade gift bags, stickers, bracelets, postcards, treats and a fanzine.
RM said he hopes the exhibition can serve as “a small but sturdy bridge for many”, inviting visitors to engage with artworks according to their own reactions and connections.
“People say this is an age when everything is connected. Yet, I still live on the boundaries,” RM wrote on the exhibition wall. “It would be wonderful if this, too, is a flower blooming at a boundary.”
He added, “It’s OK to walk slowly. Pause wherever your heart comes to rest, catch your breath, and I hope you will take a moment to smell the flowers.”