Mari Kim South Korea, b. 1979

Images
Biography
Mari Kim is a Korean artist who uses the language of Manga, Disney and Pop-Art to make her glossily realised paintings. Her images derive from a rich mixture of Western and Eastern cultural references. She produces pieces which explicitly reflect a pop sensibility and aesthetic back at her audience. 
She trained as an animator in Australia before moving back to Korea and embarking on a successful career as a video director. This is where she developed her signature 'Eyedoll' characters. These distinctive images became the protagonists of her painting project.

The 'Big Eye Doll' archetype embodies a wide gallery of female subjects. These range from teenage girls to a variety of well-known characters, both real and fictional, including The Queen, Margaret Thatcher, Angelina Jolie, Snow White and Cat Woman. These are depicted in a richly coloured, decorative, graphic manner. Sometimes the background is covered in text, rendered in the highly stylised forms of graffiti.

These lush and jewelled images, the graphic handling emphasising their flatness, have the lustre of 'bright and shiny' consumables lined up in a department store display case for our delectation. They speak of acquisitive desire and instant gratification. Their formula of production and the uniform treatment of the subjects, irrespective of their actuality, makes for a message of 'the same, but different', like the ranges of mobile phones or watches we see in the store. The pictures are a lure for a hungry eye.

Contrastingly, the artist has spoken about a sense of threat in her work, saying that she is interested in expressing the 'twisted innocence' of 'evil kids in mass media'. On closer inspection, these images of women and girls carry some more sinister freight after all. The fact that this is concealed in such an attractive package makes it all the more startling.

If this is an artist for whom the surface is all, she has some interesting things to say about what that surface reveals to us.
Works
  • Domestic life
    Mari Kim
    Domestic life, 2022
    Acrylic Paint Air Sprayed on Ultra Chrome Ink Printed Canvas
    42 x 63 in
    107 x 160 cm
  • Song for Nobody
    Mari Kim
    Song for Nobody, 2021
    Oil Paint on Ultra Chrome Ink Printed Canvas
    34 x 25 in
    86 x 64 cm
  • Giseng 9
    Mari Kim
    Giseng 9, 2018
    Genuine Gold Leaf Plated on Ultra Chrome Ink Printed Paper
    28 ½ x 23 ½ in
    72 x 60 cm
  • Moet & Chandon: Grand Cremant Imperial (homage to Alphonse Mucha)
    Mari Kim
    Moet & Chandon: Grand Cremant Imperial (homage to Alphonse Mucha), 2018
    Acrylic on ultra chrome ink printed paper
    63 x 24 in
    160 x 61 cm
  • Astronaut in Solar System Portrait
    Mari Kim
    Astronaut in Solar System Portrait, 2016
    Genuine Gold and Silver Leaf Plated on Ultra Chrome Ink Printed Paper
    54 ½ x 57 in
    138 x 145 cm
  • Cinderella Blue
    Mari Kim
    Cinderella Blue, 2016
    Graffiti Mix on Ultra Chrome Ink Print
    35.4 x 30.7 in
    89.9 x 78 cm
  • Deadly Dollar Gold
    Mari Kim
    Deadly Dollar Gold, 2016
    Genuine Gold Leaf Plated on Ultra Chrome Ink Printed Paper
    28 ½ x 23 in
    72.5 x 58.5 cm
  • Deadly Dollar Silver
    Mari Kim
    Deadly Dollar Silver, 2016
    Genuine Silver Leaf Plated on Ultra Chrome Ink Printed Paper
    28 ½ x 23 in
    72.5 x 58.5 cm
  • Hello Kitty Black
    Mari Kim
    Hello Kitty Black, 2016
    Graffiti Mix on Ultra Chrome Ink Print
    50 x 44 in 127 x 111.8 cm
  • Kelly 2
    Mari Kim
    Kelly 2, 2016
    Gold Leaf Plated on Ultra Chrome Ink Printed and Acrylic Painted Paper
    145 x 117 cm
    57 x 46 in
  • Snow White Extreme Galaxy Mix
    Mari Kim
    Snow White Extreme Galaxy Mix, 2016
    Genuine Silver Leaf Plated on Ultra Chrome Ink Printed Paper
    110 x 110 cm
    43.3 x 43.3 in
  • Farewell My Concubine 1
    Mari Kim
    Farewell My Concubine 1, 2015
    Ultra chrome ink printed on canvas
    64 x 51 in
    162 x 130 cm
  • Korean Rainbow 1
    Mari Kim
    Korean Rainbow 1, 2015
    Ultra Chrome Ink Printed under Lenticular Lenses
    100 x 100 cm
    39 x 39 in
  • Korean Rainbow 2
    Mari Kim
    Korean Rainbow 2, 2015
    Ultra Chrome Ink Printed under Lenticular Lenses
    100 x 100 cm
    39 x 39 in
  • The End of a Perfect Utopia which was Made up of Reason, Green
    Mari Kim
    The End of a Perfect Utopia which was Made up of Reason, Green, 2015
    Graffiti Mix with Ultra Chrome Ink Printed on Canvas
    125 x 100 cm
    49 x 39 in
  • The End of a Perfect Utopia which was Made up of Reason, Yellow
    Mari Kim
    The End of a Perfect Utopia which was Made up of Reason, Yellow, 2015
  • Wild at Heart
    Mari Kim
    Wild at Heart, 2013
    Ultra chrome ink printed on canvas
    109.9 x 130 cm
    43.3 x 51.2 in
  • Iron Lady
    Mari Kim
    Iron Lady, 2012
    Ultra chrome ink printed under 2 transition
    Lenticular
    53 1/8 x 44 7/8 in
    135 x 114 cm
  • Korean Girl
    Mari Kim
    Korean Girl, 2012
    Lambda Print and Face Mount
    51 x 43 ½ in
    130 x 110 cm
  • Year of Rabbit
    Mari Kim
    Year of Rabbit, 2011
    Ultra chrome ink printed on canvas
    51 x 43 ½ in
    130 x 110 cm
Exhibitions
Art Fairs