B.Q.O. 4, 2020
Silkscreen and acrylic on canvas mounted on panel
36 x 24 in
91.4 x 61 cm
91.4 x 61 cm
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Further images
The title of Bryon Kim’s newest series, 'B.Q.O.,' is an acronym for Berton, Queequeg, and Odysseus, three important characters from the famous oceanic tales, Solaris, Moby Dick and The Odyssey....
The title of Bryon Kim’s newest series, "B.Q.O.," is an acronym for Berton, Queequeg, and Odysseus, three important characters from the famous oceanic tales, Solaris, Moby Dick and The Odyssey. Kim began this new series during his Rauschenberg Residency on Captiva Island, FL, in 2019.
Expanding on Kim’s practice of portraiture, these new works are oceanic portraits, based on photographs taken by the artist or from personal memory. Each work in the series is comprised of three panels, hinged together to create a play on perspective. The bottom panel is the immediate foreground, the center panel is the near distance to the horizon line, and the top panel depicts the furthest distance or perhaps even the sky. Kim is looking at the ocean in a direct, observational, but tender way, meditating on its rich history as a subject in art history and literature - humankind's relationship to nature and the sublime. Contemporary issues of climate change and rising sea levels only intensify the ominous spirit of the sea once symbolized in those iconic tales.
B.Q.O. 6 through 11 are on view for the first time publicly at the Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University in Texas as part of the exhibition "Artists and the Rothko Chapel: 50 Years of Inspiration," from February 23 – May 15, 2021.
Expanding on Kim’s practice of portraiture, these new works are oceanic portraits, based on photographs taken by the artist or from personal memory. Each work in the series is comprised of three panels, hinged together to create a play on perspective. The bottom panel is the immediate foreground, the center panel is the near distance to the horizon line, and the top panel depicts the furthest distance or perhaps even the sky. Kim is looking at the ocean in a direct, observational, but tender way, meditating on its rich history as a subject in art history and literature - humankind's relationship to nature and the sublime. Contemporary issues of climate change and rising sea levels only intensify the ominous spirit of the sea once symbolized in those iconic tales.
B.Q.O. 6 through 11 are on view for the first time publicly at the Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University in Texas as part of the exhibition "Artists and the Rothko Chapel: 50 Years of Inspiration," from February 23 – May 15, 2021.