Model Sang Woo Kim deals with cultural duality through art
Jan Tomes
January 13, 2017
Sang Woo Kim is one of the most sought-after male models, but fashion is just his side project. With DW, he talked about moments from his life that resulted in his debut art exhibition that opens on January 13 in Berlin.
Image: Martin Peterdamm
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The art of fashion model Sang Woo Kim
Sang Woo Kim is one of the most sought-after male models, but fashion is just his side project. Discover his artworks shown in his debut exhibition "If you see me now you don't" in Berlin.
Image: Sang Woo Kim/Photo: Martin Peterdamm
'If you see me now you don't'
"People know me from fashion shows and magazines, but they would never associate me with art," explains Sang Woo Kim at his debut art exhibition in Berlin's Magic Beans gallery. "I'm trying to show here that I'm just as human as anyone else so they can see who I really am," says the 22-year-old artist who resorted to modeling to make money for his art which explores current issues and racism.
Image: Sang Woo Kim/Photo: Martin Peterdamm
'You never lived my lie'
Shortly after he was born, his family moved from South Korea to London. "I lived in a very British society but had very Korean parents, so I lived in this cultural duality, two sets of rules and values. For example, my parents would send me to a very good school, but they wouldn't realize I'd be the only Korean boy there - they had a completely different, a sort of naive way of looking at things.”
Image: Sang Woo Kim/Photo: Martin Peterdamm
'I was blind when I was younger'
Sang's distinct appearance has scored him lucrative modeling contracts, but being the center of attention wasn't always easy. "This painting is a metaphor on how people made fun of my eyes at school. They were like: 'How can you see out of that?'," he says. Although he always took such remarks with humor, they obviously stuck in his mind, as themes of seeing and looking invade most of his work.
Image: Sang Woo Kim/Photo: Martin Peterdamm
'Boy disappearing'
"I don't think the kids were really being racist - kids just say things. But fashion is so full of racism," he says, standing at a wall covered with run-down prints on linen, resembling an eloquent photo roll on which he becomes almost unrecognizable. "I mean, I know it's just modeling, but we as models should represent all ethnicities. So why isn't everyone's ethnicity equal at castings?"
Image: Sang Woo Kim/Photo: Martin Peterdamm
'Don't look away'
At Sang's exhibition, the personal gets global very quickly. "I am an immigrant, and it's horrifying to see how immigrants are treated nowadays because of politicians who want to seize power and the media that support them," he says. "Racism and violence towards others is something I haven't been able to understand to this day, which is maybe why I am so obsessed with it."
Image: Sang Woo Kim/Photo: Martin Peterdamm
'You look at nothing'
Reflecting current events, the exhibition's paintings were all created in the last four months: "There must be a reason why things like Brexit and Trump are happening. Art is my way of getting to that point." Some works resemble post-World War II expressionism, others emulate pages from a private diary, with one painting halfway between Russian propaganda and an American action hero movie poster.
Image: Sang Woo Kim/Photo: Martin Peterdamm
'Stay handsome forever'
Although the exhibition showcases Sang's artworks, part of it is dedicated to photos he took with fellow models during the most mundane activities, providing a backstage look to the uninitiated. "You'd never see Kiki like that!," he says, referring to one photo of top model Kiki Willems drinking lemonade in a sweatshirt with her hair pulled back.
Image: Sang Woo Kim/Photo: Martin Peterdamm
'Bleached'
"When I was a kid, I tried to conform, to be a normal British kid. I say I was 'bleached,' I wasn't myself, which is maybe why I talk like this," he utters jokingly in the authentic BBC English accent. "Why am I so different? That was the hardest question for me to ask when I was a boy," he adds. Judging from the exhibition, he's found a few universal answers since.
Image: Sang Woo Kim/Photo: Martin Peterdamm
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Sang Woo Kim is recognized for his work as a British-Korean model. It would be difficult to avoid the label: He's walked the runway for Vivienne Westwood, Dolce & Gabbana, or Dries Van Noten. Brands such as Diesel, DKNY, or Armani have contracted him to headline seasonal campaigns. He has also appeared in editorials for Vogue, GQ, ELLE, and other glossy and independent fashion magazines.
But he is trying to tone down this publicized aspect of his work with his debut art exhibition in a Berlin gallery Magic Beans. After all, he considers his current career to be just a facade, and as he says, he's done with cover-ups. "I've had to deal with them all my life. I was the only Korean boy in an all-boy British school, so I tried to blend in, but, naturally, I had to deal with racism at school and cultural duality at home since my parents had lived all their lives in Korea," he told DW.
Artist Sang Woo Kim at the Magic Beans gallery in BerlinImage: Martin Peterdamm
Sang is not even shy to admit that his career in fashion, no matter how successful, was just another pragmatic decision: the young artist started modeling for his peers from the fashion department at Central Saint Martins, where he studied fine art, because he saw an opportunity to make money for his painting.
"I don't want to complain, however. In a sense, it's been a golden ticket, an opportunity given to me, not one that I created. But art is my real passion. After all, with all the achievements I've had as a model, I could have easily given up art already."
The whole exhibition experience has also allowed him to change the role he is used to, switching from an object to the commanding position usually held by stylists and photographers when he is modeling.
Needless to say, the exhibition is a very personal project linked to both Sang's past and future. "I never felt my art to be as authentic as it is now," he says walking through the gallery halls. "Before, I felt like I was almost designing my art."
The exhibition "Sang Woo Kim: If you see me now you don't" runs from January 13 to February 12 2017 in the Magic Beans gallery in Berlin.