Jongmin Joy Kim On Sale

Jongmin Joy Kim draws inspiration from modern Korean art and gritty street art. As a result, the South Korean-born artist works in a venturesome style that, while representative of the influence of icons such as Pablo Picasso and Jean-Michel Basquiat, is distinctly his own.

Kim creates compelling paintings and other mixed media works that are characterized by vivid colors and feature collagist attributes as well as Cubist and Surrealist flourishes.

Kim was born in the city of Gumi, South Korea — the second largest city in the eastern province of Gyeongsangbuk-do. He began drawing at a young age, scribbling out cartoon-style illustrations and using his talent to entertain friends in elementary school. 

Kim attended the Gimcheon High School of Arts. After graduating in 2010, he backpacked through Europe and became enamored with the wealth of art he was able to experience while traveling. Kim cites this trip — and a friend he made along the way — as immensely inspirational and credits his time in Europe as having been pivotal to his rekindling the desire to pursue drawing in earnest.

After returning to South Korea, Kim completed a mandatory stint in the military. In 2014, after his discharge, he moved to the United States. He settled in New York City and studied briefly at the School of Visual Arts but quickly grew restless. After six months, Kim dispensed with the idea of attending classes and threw himself into his painting. He immersed himself in the city’s rich and vibrant creative culture, and within a few years, his career began to gain traction.

Kim has been showing his work in solo and group exhibitions ever since, and his work is held in a number of private collections in Korea and the United States. He currently lives and works in Brooklyn.

Find original Jongmin Joy Kim art on 1stDibs.

Painting is an art form that has spanned innumerable cultures, with artists using the medium to tell stories, explore and communicate ideas and express themselves. To bring abstract, landscape and still-life paintings into your home is to celebrate and share in the long tradition of this discipline.

When we look at paintings, particularly those that originated in the past, we learn about history, other cultures and countries of the world. Like every other work of art, paintings — whether they are contemporary creations or works that were made during the 19th century — can often help us clearly see and understand the world around us in a meaningful and interesting way.

Cave walls were the canvases for what were arguably the world’s first landscape paintings, which depict natural scenery through art. Portrait paintings and drawings, which, along with sculpture, were how someone’s appearance was recorded prior to the advent of photography, are at least as old as Ancient Egypt. In the Netherlands, landscapes were a major theme for painters as early as the 1500s. Later, artists in Greece, Rome and elsewhere created vast wall paintings to decorate stately homes, churches and tombs. Today, creating a wall of art is a wonderful way to enhance your space, showcase beautiful pieces and tie an interior design together.

No matter your preference, whether you favor Post-Impressionist paintings, animal paintings, Surrealism, Pop art or another movement or specific period, arranging art on a blank wall allows you to evoke emotions in a room while also showing off your tastes and interests. A symmetrical wall arrangement may comprise a grid of four to six pieces or, for an odd number of works, a horizontal row. Asymmetrical arrangements, which may be small clusters of art or large, salon-style gallery walls, have a more collected and eclectic feel. Download the 1stDibs app, which includes a handy “View on Wall” feature that allows you to see how a particular artwork will look on a particular wall, and read about how to arrange wall art. And if you’re searching for the perfect palette for your interior design project, what better place to turn than to the art world’s masters of color?

On 1stDibs, you’ll find an expansive collection of paintings and other fine art for your home or office. Browse abstract paintings, portrait paintings, paintings by popular artists and more today.