We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art stands and recognise the creative contribution First Australians make to the art and culture of this country.
Kim Beom / South Korea b.1963 / Residential Watchtower Complex for Security Guards (Perspective) 2016 / Inkjet print on cotton paper / 36 x 51cm / Purchased 2017. Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © The artist
Kim BeomResidential Watchtower Complex for Security Guards 2016
Not Currently on Display
The artist’s work in APT9 is from ‘Blueprints and Perspectives’, a series of satirical drawings depicting imaginary structures. The works typically consist of a lavishly rendered architect’s drawing accompanied by a schematic blueprint. The structures include a school that offers lessons in defying gravity, a spy ship disguised as a cloud, and a bat-shaped safe house for tyrants, complete with an escape pod. As with the best satire, these humorous works are underpinned by serious concerns and social frustrations.
Kim has described the works as metaphors for society, and they are based on the absurdity, inhumanity, arbitrariness and contradiction that he has experienced in his own life. The matter-of-factness of Kim’s blueprints reflects the depersonalisation and machine-like logic of our contemporary world.
Kim Beom is part of the generation of South Korean artists whose adult life has coincided with their country’s transition to democracy. For an artist whose work is so strongly influenced by conceptualism, he is proficient in a number of different techniques, including drawing, ceramics, installation, performance, as well as publishing.
Kim Beom uses humour to explore how we understand the world. His ‘Blueprints and Perspectives’ series depicts a wide range of imaginary machines, vessels and structures. The works are made up of a pair of artworks — a detailed drawing and a blueprint.