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Haus of Bongba
Jongbum Kim

GALLERY II

Jongbum Kim, Haus of Bongba, 2022, Recycled fabric, garments, yarns, beads, 120 x 150 x 91 inches.

October 15 - November 13, 2022

Opening reception: Saturday, October 15 from 6–8pm

A.I.R. Gallery is pleased to announce Haus of Bongba, an exhibition by Jongbum Kim. Haus of Bongba features a new body of work consisting of hand-drawn illustrations, made with watercolors, colored pencils, and pen, that are then digitally printed on recycled cotton, satin jersey, chiffon, silk, and quilts. Creating an installation and sanctuary that expresses unity in diversity and non-duality, Kim brings together a wide variety of materials—including recycled beads, hotfix rhinestones, donated yarns, and balloons—via the techniques of machine knitting, crochet, ruching, and needle felting. Kim’s illustrations and soft sculptures explode the binary categories that often limit our world, generating a utopia where fantasy characters and multicultural communities can interact free from the boundaries of gender, caste, and creed. This is Kim’s first solo exhibition in New York City.

Jongbum Kim is a New York-based designer/artist who explores the ideas of multicultural communities and gender. With a strong belief in seeing the world and experiencing it firsthand, Kim’s designs are filled with color and symbolism, both literal and figurative, engaging the viewer and provoking them to respond. They strive to create paintings and fiber artwork that help express their personal voice and journey so far. Recent group exhibitions include Materialistic at Mana Contemporary in Jersey City, Industrious Bodies at Donna Karen’s Urban Zen Foundation in New York City, and Windows Open to the Sky, presented in collaboration with Design Pavilion, ARTSTHREAD, NYC x Design, Artemide, Society Limonta, and Interior Define in New York City. Kim’s work has been featured in Al-Tiba9’s contemporary art magazine in Spain and Algeria, in Embroidery magazine in London, England, and has been reviewed online by the blog Textile Curator and American Tapestry Alliance. Kim attended The New School Parsons School of Design for their MFA in Textiles and received a BA(Hons) in Fashion Design Womenswear from Central Saint Martins, University of Arts London.

View the Press Release here.