The leader of the world’s biggest band is nervous.
“I think I revised this speech about 10 times, but somehow the more I worked on it, the more confused I got, as always,” K-pop star and BTS rapper RM said at a preview of a show he co-curated at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art on Tuesday. “RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me”
Three years ago, RM held an untitled show in South Korea, but this was the first real exhibition he staged. It’s no surprise to many of his fans, some of whom wait outside the museum to catch a glimpse of him, that his favorite activities include visiting museums, cycling and being in nature. There’s even a word for it: “namjooning” a play on the singer’s first name, Namjoon. But still, the exhibition is a rare chance to see RM as a serious art collector; Someone who values Korean identity in art but also loves works from many genres, periods, and countries.
Philip Guston, Untitled (The Red and Black Book), 1969; From the RM collection.
(The Estate of Philip Guston / Hauser & Wirth)
Wearing a gray T-shirt, dark collared shirt and leather trousers, RM’s hair is a light burnt sienna color that matches the fur of the stylized tiger on the screen behind him. From a 17th-century painting by Lee Won-chan, from his personal collection of more than 400 works of art. In this exhibition, a total of 178 works will be exhibited, including 142 works by RM and 36 works from SFMOMA.
RM sees “Between You and Me” as a reflection of the contrasting sides of his personality and an introduction to his inner life, whether as a public figure interacting with adoring fans, a knowledgeable intellectual, and an avid reader. clumsy and cute stupid.
RM was on a break from BTS and on the verge of starting his mandatory military service in South Korea when SFMOMA first contacted him for the project two years ago. When the results were received, he tried to answer two main questions while considering which works in his collection he would share with the public.
Does the work of art affect him deeply? And if the work is by a non-contemporary artist, does the work have anything to communicate in 2026?
“In an age where everything is consumed so quickly,” RM explained, “I believe that the attitudes of some artists of the past can resonate even more deeply today.
“I have always dreamed of seeing different places, times, borders and histories coexist in harmony,” he continued. “It can be complicated because I’ve never been formally trained and I’m not a ‘curator, curator,’ but sometimes an outsider can bring a fresh breeze.”
Wonwoo Lee, “Sugar”, 2023; From RM collection
(Wonwoo Lee / PKM Gallery)
This isn’t RM’s first time working with a museum. In 2023, it partnered with the Los Angeles County Museum of Modern Art to provide guided audio commentary. “The Space Between: Modern in Korean Art”.
Two co-curators joined RM’s work at SFMOMA: SFMOMA project manager América Castillo and assistant curator of paintings and sculpture Hyoeun Kim.
Kim, who has long supported Korean artists internationally, was particularly impressed by the diversity of Korean art RM has accumulated, including its “extraordinary diversity.”
“The collection began with 6th-century works, progressed through the Joseon Dynasty, and continued to include mainly Korean modern and contemporary art. It covers nearly 1,500 years,” Kim said during the preview.
The show consists of eight episodes and begins with a large white wall at the entrance with the title of the show scrawled in RM’s handwriting. There are handwritten touches everywhere – “Please receive with your eyes and your heart” is written on the floor in both English and Korean. The wall text, which also includes a QR code for the audio description of each track, was created by RM in both languages.
An inscription on the floor of a SFMOMA exhibition curated by BTS’s RM shows RM’s inscription as part of the wall (and floor) text.
(Christine Terrisse.)
Guests will also receive a magazine-style brochure with the same understated appeal, explaining each of the eight sections in RM’s words, along with a diagram of the room.
“Blue Water” centers on the work of globe-trotting abstract artist Kim Whanki, with the first RM saying he “fell in love.” In addition to Whanki and the work of Vija Celmins and Tony Feher, some RM fans may recognize one of Roni Horn’s glass cylinder sculptures from the past.archived Instagram post Where it was casually displayed in RM’s apartment.
There’s even a room full of particularly eclectic pieces called “I don’t know.. but I like it.” As explanation, RM said, “Sometimes I really don’t know why I collect all these things.” he said.
The last room, “Umber” or “Dasaek” (referring to the color of Korean rice fields), may be the most meaningful room for the singer. The exhibition features works by the late artist Yun Hyong-keun, with whom RM had a special personal affinity. Cover of his first solo studio album “Indigo”” It depicts Hyong-keun’s 1972 painting “Blue” and the album’s title track. “Wool,” The collaboration with Erykah Badu begins with the artist’s recorded dialogues.
In 2018, when RM began his art journey without much formal training in art history, co-curator Castillo began his career at SFMOMA.
At the time, he admired the power of art to connect with people, but was disappointed that more people from unconventional backgrounds were not being given the opportunity to curate major exhibitions, thereby shaping the stories told. His work in this exhibition is part of his mission to build bridges between the art world and the ordinary person.
Chang Ucchin, “Road”, 1986, from RM’s collection.
(Chang Ucchin Foundation / Seoul Auction)
This mission guided RM through the process of selecting works by renowned artists from the SFMOMA collection to contextualize pieces from lesser-known but equally important names.
“When we first put out a list on the SFMOMA side, we had like 500 options, then we whittled it down,” he said in an interview while standing in the “Umber” room. “There were certain works of art and certain artists that we wanted to have in the show from the very beginning. We wanted them to take some time. Mark Rothko was definitely one of them.”
“No. 14” (1960), the only Rothko piece in the SFMOMA collection, is displayed in one of the last rooms of the exhibition. Right next to it is “untitled” (1986-90) by Hyong-keun. In the exhibition brochure, RM notes that Hyong-keun’s paintings are often compared to Rothko’s, but “their darkness is not the same.” “In my eyes, if Rothko’s darkness is a darkness that ‘opens up,’ then Yun’s is the darkness that remains after enduring everything possible,” he writes.
As RM becomes the center of attention in the art world, he learns to be comfortable with the uncomfortable spaces he occupies. “I started this with an innocent heart. As I stand here talking to you, I still feel like I’m drifting and floating somewhere,” he said, adding that this feeling came while he was in the United States and also in his hometown of Seoul. “It’s not a very nice feeling. I think I turned to art a lot because of this feeling.”
Before the preview, BTS fans, called ARMY, handed out small gifts to the press, and then donors lined up for a private reception. Even RM’s mother, father, and sister came to celebrate, but he didn’t have much time to hang around. He was scheduled to travel to Bogota, Colombia to join his bandmates on the Latin American leg of the ARIRANG stadium world tour.
Now it is time to leave the silence of the museum to the roar of the crowd.
“RM SFMOMA: Between You and Me” opens to the audience in October 3and will last until February.72027. For more information, visit: sfmoma.org