Duk Ju L. Kim

Duk Ju L. Kim is a Korean American artist. She was born in Busan and spent the formative years of her childhood in Tehran, Iran, where her father moved the family for work. Kim’s earliest memories are of eating tangerines, a luxury in Korea at the time, touring the Caspian Sea and the remains of the Ottoman Empire.

Ahead of the Iranian Revolution, the family relocated to the United States. Kim chose an American name—first “Betty,” then “Linda”—and began attending public school in rural Texas. She survived U.S. high school and made a beeline for art school. She received her Bachelor in Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design (1991). She did her post-graduate work at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine (1992) and completed Master of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1993). Historical, geopolitical, and current events like the ones that shaped Kim's early life and perception of the world have a presence in her paintings, too. Cities lie in ruins; layers of psychological and architectural history pile up. Human figures take on the structure of buildings, or appear amidst rubble as seen in her drawing Us Is Beautiful 2021 for Tonight No Poetry Will Serve.

Kim’s work is also deeply influenced by her adopted city. A resident of Chicago for over 20 years, the hard lines of the city’s skyscrapers, the rigid street grid system, the viaducts and lines of segregation between neighbourhoods—all are ubiquitous in her work, along with exposed pipes, plumbing, and wires. Despite her fascination with the physical landscape, Kim’s paintings are not devoid of life or humanity, and her work is imbued with a deep sense of humour and often dark irony. Her recent solo exhibitions are Duk Ju L. de-skinned, Zg Gallery Chicago (2019) and Chicago Cultural Centre (2018), Alternative Reality, The Learning Machine, Chicago (2017), Being Paint, Zhou B Art Centre (2013), and Vicissitude, Antena Gallery, Chicago (2011). Her group exhibitions are Spring Collection, Zg Gallery, Chicago (2021), Winter Group Show, and The New (Ab) Normal Show, Zg Gallery, Chicago (2020), Group Show, Grace Jane Projects, Chicago (2018), Mindstreams: Contemporary Paintings in Chicago, Triton College, Fine Arts Gallery, IL (2012), Chicago Connect, EFFJAY PROJEKTS Gallery, Sheboygan, WI (2012), Franconia Sculpture Park Gallery at Cache, the Casket House Arts Quad, Minneapolis, MN (2011), and 7th Annual National Self-Portrait Exhibition, Zhou B. Art Center, Chicago, IL (2011), L’Autoportrait, Galerie Epicentre, Paris (2010).

Kim has been honoured with numerous awards, including a Chicago Cultural Center Honorarium (2018) and an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship (2001) recognising exceptional artists in the state. Her work is included in numerous private collections in the United States as well as Israel, Argentina and the United Kingdom.

Duk Ju L. Kim lives and works in Chicago, United States of America.

I have always believed in raising awareness for crucial causes, such as Cancer Fund, Galle. Throughout the years, I've participated in numerous fundraisers. Namely by donating artwork. The arts are a crucial part of all society and a creative way to reach out and form a community by bypassing international borders. I thank you for inviting me to participate and I hope the fundraiser is a huge success!