Jinu Nam (b.1985, Seoul) has a craving for the mysterious mollusk, Giant squid, or the sea monster Kraken, the ancestor of it. He also enjoyed watching the animations starring robots, and in this kind of hero series usually consists of good and bad characters. The good character is usually portrayed as a beautiful person, but the bad character often has a strange appearance. Nam's work is about a being that has become a 'monster' in a world where justice does not apply. He creates his own kingdom full of Giant squid and expresses it in bright colors. He also borrows the style and structure of the medieval illustrations from the bible that have clear structures of good and evil. Heroes in his works have the characteristics of both angels and demons, revealing an unclear boundary between goodness and evil. His work is about hopes to save himself in an absurd world.
Jinu Nam studied painting at Hongik University in Seoul. He held solo exhibition at EDIT Projects(Seoul, 2023), Osisun(Seoul, 2022), Willing n Dealing(Seoul, 2021), Out_sight(2021), Art Museum Versi(Yongin, 2020), Gallery Doll(Seoul, 2018), participated in a number of group exhibitions such as '2021 Young Korean Artists' at National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art(2021), Cheonan Art Museum(2021), Alternative Space Loop(2019), Daegu Art Museum(2019), Beijing Commune(2019).
BIOGRAPHY
Born 1985, Seoul, Korea
Works and Lives in Seoul, Korea
EDUCATION
2011 BFA, Hong-ik University, Fine Art, Seoul, Korea
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 Monsters, EDIT Projects, Seoul, Korea
2022 Strange Trees, Osisun, Seoul, Korea
2021 Dreadful Beauty, Willing n Dealing, Seoul, Korea
2021 The way to Eden, Out_Sight, Seoul, Korea
2020 Unrealistic Kingdom, Art Museum Versi, Yong-in, Korea
2018 Another Monster, Gallery Doll, Seoul, Korea
2014 Unrealistic Kingdom, Artspace Nam.K, Seoul, Korea
2014 Clown Squid, Gallery Fango, Cottbus, Germany
2013 Unrealistic Kingdom, Seogu Cultural Institute, Daejun, Korea
2012 Unrealistic Kingdom, Hwabong Gallery, Seoul, Korea
2011 1st Solo Exhibition, Gallery Golmok, Seoul, Korea
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022
Mystery Play of Romanticist, Willing n Dealing, Seoul, Korea
The Post-Analog Tendencies of the MZ Generation, Osan Museum of Art, Osan, Korea
2021
Dream＋monster, Cheonan Art Center, Cheonan, Korea
Young Korean Artists, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, Korea
2019
Gi Uc Jang Chi - Virtual memory, Alternative Space LOOP, Seoul, Korea
So Serious?, Binzip Project, Seoul, Korea
SUMMER GROUP SHOW, LKIF Gallery, Seoul, Korea
Scenographic Imagination, Beijing Commune, Beijing, China
POP/com, Daegu Art Museum, Daegu, Korea
2016
So S[iries], Gallery Choi, Seoul, Korea
2015
WE SHAPE CLAY INTO A POT, Frappant E.V., Hamburg, Germany
Cross-reacting Confession, Iksan Creation Center, Iksan, Korea
Historic Images Formed from Indivisual Memories, Zaha Museum, Seoul, Korea
2012
The Memory Politic, Zaha Museum, Seoul, Korea
2011
Neue Empiriker (New Empiricists), Zaha Museum, Seoul, Korea
and more.
RESIDENCIES
2016 LEE galerie BS, Berlin, Germany
2015 Iksan Creation Center, Iksan, Korea
2014 Halle 14(Spinnerei), Leipzig, Germany
COLLECTIONS
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), Gwacheon, Korea
Art Museum Versi, Yong-in, Korea
Colección Solo, Madrid, Spain
