Kidows Kim

Kidows Kim – High Gear (Studio Residency 2025)

A succession of striking tableaux combining images, sound, and objects, High Gear is a space where the body is exposed and decomposed in a search for the ungraspable.

To be born, to eat, to work, to die. Within a closed circuit exploring these four universal themes, Kidows Kim embodies a collection of figures drawn from intimate memories, entangled within imagery inspired by alternative manga. Drawing on the structure of yonkoma manga a four-panel narrative form often used in political press the South Korean artist examines the endless cycle of production, consumption, and reincarnation.

Rather than reproducing these patterns, a figure attempts to subvert their mechanisms, to break their repetition, and to free itself from their hold. Representations are absorbed, deconstructed, and reformed; meanings accumulate, collide, and blur. A ghostly body emerges from this assemblage, trying to carve its way through. It bears witness to the uncanny that infiltrates every familiar element.

A succession of striking tableaux combining images, sound, and objects, High Gear is a space where the body is exposed and decomposed in a search for the ungraspable.