Byron Kim: Drawn to Water: Gallery Exhibition at 48 Walker Street

7 January - 19 February 2022

  • James Cohan is pleased to present Drawn to Water, an exhibition of new paintings by Byron Kim, on view from January 7 through February 19, 2022 at the gallery’s 48 Walker Street location.

     

    The works in Drawn to Water belong to a new series titled B.Q.O., an abbreviation for Berton, Queequeg, and Odysseus, three key characters from famous oceanic tales: Stanisław Lem’s Solaris, Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, and Homer’s The Odyssey. Representing various bodies of water—at times placid or treacherous—Kim’s newest paintings reveal an experience of the sublime, by way of observing and submerging oneself in a fluid environment that can feel liberatory or, suddenly, prove overpowering.

  • Each painting in the series comprises three panels, each representing a distinct visual zone: the bottom panel captures the view...

    Each painting in the series comprises three panels, each representing a distinct visual zone: the bottom panel captures the view from underwater, the middle panel the water’s surface and its reflections, and the upper panel the sky. For Kim, these segmented depictions of sky and water find approximate analogy with the human body and mind. Collectively, they create a sense of the immersiveness of nature, toggling between the intimately observed experience of the artist and the greater human experience of beholding the world.

  • 'Swimming in the open ocean gave me a new relationship to my body. Normally, I privilege imagination and mind space...

    "Swimming in the open ocean gave me a new relationship to my body. Normally, I privilege imagination and mind space over the body, which corresponds with my tendency toward abstraction. Depending on my body as a vehicle brought me away from abstraction—in a strange way, it was grounding, and brought me towards representation.”

    - Byron Kim 

     

  • In this series, Kim is looking at the ocean directly, but also imaginatively. For Kim, the content of these works is alternately palliative, sad and terrifying. He found healing power and connection in nature during the pandemic. Yet these works also embody threats of climate change and rising sea levels, contemporary anxieties that only intensify the spirit of the sea symbolized in the aforementioned iconic literary tales. Kim grounds his approach with concern and tenderness to create paintings that speak of catharsis and hope, rather than irreparable wound. 

  • About the Artist

    Byron Kim (b. La Jolla, CA, 1961) is a Senior Critic at Yale University. He is perhaps best known for the ongoing painting project, Synecdoche, which was included in the landmark 1993 Whitney Biennial, and is now in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art. He received a BA from Yale University in 1983 and attended Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 1986. Among Kim’s recent awards are the Alpert Award in the Arts (2008), and the Robert De Niro, Sr. Prize (2019). His works are in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL; the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY; the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C.; the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA; the Tate Modern, London, UK; the Whitney Museum of American Art, NY; Byron Kim lives and works in Brooklyn, NY and San Diego, CA.

     

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