Mari Kim

Mari Kim is a South Korean-Australian contemporary artist from Seoul, South Korea. She is known for the big-eyed, cartoon-like female characters in her pop art paintings, called "eyedolls". Her work was popularly recognized after her 2011 collaboration with the K-pop girl group 2NE1, directing the animated music video for their single "Hate You". The single topped charts and the music video, with eyedoll action heroines portraying each of the four members, received over twenty million YouTube views.

Life and career Kim was born in Busan as Kim Mari . As her interest in art developed, she was unsure of making it a career. Her parents had artistic interests in photography, sketching and embroidery but hoped that she would pursue medicine or law. They compromised when she found a course of studies in visual arts through computers.

Style and works

Animation At RMIT she concentrated in animation, learning storytelling techniques, drawing, image and video creation and editing, which she incorporates in her private exhibits to enhance her flat surface works with images, videos and installation works. and of the large eyes, she has said "No matter if you're from the East or West, the eyes are the windows to your mind. I use the eyes as a wormhole; a gate to an imaginary and reality world." The Untitled Magazine said the characters' eyes "encompass a world of their own" and reveal "intricate patterns", somewhat like "looking through the lens of a kaleidoscope". Some of the depictions show women with cuts or stitched lips; Kim has cited American horror films as an influence on her work. She produced and directed the animated music video for "Hate You", which depicts the members of the group carrying guns and saving the world from a monster, with her signature huge eyes and thick makeup.

Femininity She has participated in several exhibitions that explore femininity, particularly in contemporary Korea. In New York City, in 2013, Amalgamated Gallery curator Gary Krimershmoys said of the "K- Surrogates" show from September through November, "The concept for the show came from a desire to show in America a unique Korean cultural and artistic vision, that does not conform to an international orthodoxy," and added, "These three female artists embodied a connection with this particular moment in Korea, where technology, an international K-pop explosion and a neo-feminist attitude are all intermixed to produce exceptional art."

In October 2015, she joined other women artists for The Untitled Magazine's exhibit "The "F” Word: Feminism in Art", an exhibit of twenty women artists in Tribeca, described as "each artist individually [addressing] concepts revolving around feminism with works that either challenge gender stereotypes or embrace female empowerment, with literal or metaphorical visual language."

Awards and recognition In October 2013, she was awarded the "ChungKang Culture Award", sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for recognition of creative work as an artist that contributed to the culture industry. Her interpretations of the stereotypical image of women in the media were noted for recreating distinctive images of women, which had also appeared in stationery or shoes that were popular among the younger generation.

Her idol eyedoll artwork was featured in the 2014 film Tazza: The Hidden Card.

Solo exhibitions 2008: "Sugar Candy Show", Ssamzie Illu-pop Gallery, Seoul 2009: "EYEDOLL SHOW", LVS Gallery, Seoul 2010: "A story about Anderson", Seo Kang University Mary Hall, Seoul 2010: "Big Head Show" Daegu, The Omni show room, Daegu 2011: "Child Play", Television 12 Gallery, Seoul 2012: "Famous Show in Dubai", Opera Gallery, Dubai, UAE 2012: "Famous Show in Busan", Gana Art Gallery, Busan 2012: "Famous Show", Gana Art Gallery, Seoul 2013: "The Premiere U.S. solo exhibition of Korean artist Mari Kim", Art Aqua Art Miami,

Awards 2013 Women of the Year Awards, sponsored by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, winner "ChungKang Culture Award", pop artist