Visual Artist Kim Heecheon Takes Part in “Decoding Korea” at the 2024 Paris Olympics

Visual Artist Kim Heecheon, an alumnus of the School of Visual Arts, participates in “Decoding Korea,” a Korean exhibit hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, at the Paris Olympics from 26 July to 25 August. “Decoding Korea” is arranged to provide new visual experiences through advanced technologies and share with the audience the philosophical questions that contemporary Korean artists have. In that way, the exhibit aims to provide opportunities for understanding Korea from many angles to the visitors of Paris. Illuminating the characteristics that are genuinely Korean through media artworks, the exhibition will display the complex and multifaceted Korean society that has changed in the course of drastic industrialization.

In addition to Kim, 18 works by 11 media artists who represent Korea, including Paik Nam Jun, the pioneer of media art, Kang Yiyun, Kwon Hayoun, Ram Han, Roomtone, Park Junebum, Yeom Jihye, Lee Yongbaek, Lee Lee-nam, and Jung Yeondoo, will be on display.

Kim Heecheon, well known as the representative of Korea’s post-internet artists, creates unique drawings using digital media and the latest high-technology. He has not only employed rapidly changing techniques such as 3D rendering and face swap but also designed eye-catching visual graphics using the styles of internet broadcasting and animation.

Besides, Kim hosts a solo exhibition of his new series, “Studies,” at Atelier Hermes Seoul, from 26 July to 6 October. Winning the 2023 Hermes Foundation Art Prize, Kim was acknowledged for his interpretation and expression that oriented around the self-awareness of humans, a topic that must be discussed yet still challenging in the digital time.