Kim Kulim

Kim Kulim (김구림, also frequently romanized as Kim Ku-lim; born 1936 in Sangju, North Gyeongsang province, Korea) is a South Korean artist. Primarily self-taught, Kim Kulim's artistic practice has been shaped by his involvement in Seoul's experimental art scene in the late 1960s and early 1970s, his exposure to Japan's art scene in the mid-1970s, and his decades in the United States (where he lived from 1984 to 2000). Never limiting himself to abiding by artistic conventions, Kim has repeatedly transgressed boundaries, in ways that the art critic Oh Kwang-su has described as extending an experimental spirit into his present-day artistic practice.^[1]: 58

In his early work, Kim quickly departed from the conventions of painting by incorporating industrial materials and performing destructive acts such as burning his artwork. Beginning in 1969, his pursuit of happenings led him to multiple "firsts" — Korea's first works of mail art and land art, as well as a harbinger of experimental film. Concurrently, Kim was a founding member of two artist groups, AG (short for the Korean Avant-Garde Art Association, active 1969–1974; the first artist group to explore the role of the avant-garde in Korea)^[2]: 45 and the notorious The Fourth Group.^[3] With later decades spent abroad, his practice became transnationally shaped while also centering concepts of Eastern thought, namely, Yin and Yang.

As the critic Oh observed, across his artistic career, Kim has progressively expanded his practice to span a wide array of media and activities — and yet, Kim has never been concerned with the confines of artistic genres.^[1]: 58 Instead, concepts and ideas have served as a guide for how Kim's artworks have materialized.^[4]: 7