Часть 2

RM’s Growing Influence in the Art World.

RM’s influence shakes up the art world.

We unravel the enormous influence of RM, who is also known as a collector in the world of art.

Translation by @061313purple

RM has often been posting about an exhibition he visited or an artwork on Instagram. Surprisingly, every time he does that, people from around the world, who saw his social media or the news, visit (those) art museums. This phenomenon has never happened in the art world before. Yes that’s right, RM has created an “entrance” that makes art more accessible for/feel more close to the young generation and to those people who weren’t very interested in art. He has become someone who connects people and art, which is often thought to be hard to understand.

Currently in September, he has 44.9 million followers on Instagram (BTS account has 73.96 million followers). We can say that it’s unprecedented for information related to art to be exposed to such a huge audience. He is known as a passionate collector and has collected many works including pieces by Joel Shapiro and Roni Horn, who are leading the contemporary art world in the USA. However, the core of ‘RM’s collection’ are the artists who represent Korea.   

It has previously been introduced on social media that he owns the works of Lee Bae and Yun Hyeong-keun, his favorite artist as he said in the interview (pag 46).

In March 2022, RM loaned a terracotta sculpture of a horse by the renowned sculptor Kwon Jin-Kyu (1922-1973) to the large solo exhibition of the artist at the Seoul Museum of Art. Despite that special exhibitions are usually composed of works owned by the museum hosting the exhibition and works loaned from other institutions or private collectors, this usually doesn’t attract attention. However, RM’s collection was covered in numerous media outlets and this brought the attention to artist Kwon Jin-kyu. Thanks to RM, Korean artists, who weren’t well known overseas, furthermore the Korean art scene itself are gathering attention/interest from around the world. 

He also makes an effort to support art institutions in his home country. In 2020, he donated 100 million won to the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art which became a hot topic. It has been decided that it’ll be used to republish books that are hard to find as it’s out of print, and it’ll include Yun Hyong-keun’s book too. 

Also in September 2021, he donated 100 million won to the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, which is an organization of the Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation. His donation went towards the preservation treatment of a Joseph Dynasty hwalot, which is currently owned by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). From 2022-2023, an exhibition was held to introduce modern and contemporary Korean artists, and RM recorded commentaries for the audio guide of the 10 art pieces he selected.

Without stopping, after that he donated another 100 million won to the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, which is planned to be used for creating a catalog of the Korean paintings. Now, I would like to introduce the project which BTS as a team involved art, music, people and the world. I believe fans (already) know, but it’s “CONNECT, BTS” which was held in 2020. During that period, it was held in five cities beginning with London, followed by Berlin, Bueno, Seoul, and New York, and cooperated/worked together with 22 world-renowned artists including, Antony Gormley and Tomás Saraceno and curators, creating magnificent works in each city. This could also be seen on the internet and it was a message of love from BTS, which was to transcend borders and to cooperated/worked together with 22 world-renowned artists including, Antony Gormley and Tomás Saraceno and curators, creating magnificent works in each city. This could also be seen on the internet and it was a message of love from BTS, which was to transcend borders and to connect with people who have diverse and different values.

RM’s home and his studio called “workroom”, are filled with his favorite artworks/pieces. RM being his true self, who sometimes has conversations with those artworks, may be something only the art knows. He’s that into/absorbed and fascinated by art. He’s currently planning to create a space (made by himself) hoping to exhibit artworks/pieces by artists that will reach the hearts of the young people. His influence is immeasurable and will continue to open up the world of art.