For RM, the leader of BTS, music is only one part of a much larger creative life. Over several years, his growing interest in visual art has developed into a serious collecting practice, with Korean artists at its center.

A major exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art gives visitors an opportunity to see the artworks that have shaped his perspective and understand another side of the internationally recognized performer.

Titled RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me, the exhibition brings together works from RM’s private collection and the museum’s holdings. Rather than presenting art through a strictly academic framework, the display reflects personal interests, emotional responses and connections between artists from different backgrounds.

A Personal Collection Takes Center Stage

RM, whose real name is Kim Namjoon, began taking a deeper interest in art after visiting museums during his professional travels. An experience at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2018 prompted him to consider how much he knew about Korean artists and their contributions. That question became a starting point for years of museum visits, reading and collecting.

His collection gradually grew to include modern and contemporary Korean works, alongside pieces from other parts of the world. The SFMOMA exhibition brings together 178 artworks, including 142 from RM’s collection and 36 from the museum, offering a view of the tastes and ideas that have influenced his artistic interests.

The exhibition is also an important milestone in RM’s creative life beyond music. Working with museum curators América Castillo and Hyoeun Kim, he helped select the pieces and shape the overall presentation. The collaboration allows a private interest to become a shared cultural experience.

Connecting Different Artistic Worlds

Korean art forms the exhibition’s foundation, but the presentation is not limited to one period or style. Visitors encounter works spanning many centuries, from historical objects to modern paintings and contemporary creations. The selection demonstrates how artistic expression can develop across generations while retaining meaningful connections to earlier traditions.

International works also appear throughout the exhibition. Rather than separating artists according to nationality, the curators place selected pieces alongside one another to reveal similarities in technique, subject and feeling.

For example, the arrangement draws connections between the repeated patterns found in works by Chung Sanghwa and Agnes Martin. Other pairings consider how artists approach familiar objects or translate the natural world into simplified shapes and colors.

Eight Sections Built Around Human Experience

The exhibition is organized into eight sections shaped by recurring themes that emerged during conversations between RM and the curators. Instead of arranging every work within rigid historical categories, the galleries follow a more personal progression.

The presentation begins with subjects connected to everyday life before moving toward broader questions about human experience. It eventually reaches a quieter, more reflective atmosphere. Section titles include “Home,” “Friendscape” and “Flowers bloom bloom at every boundary,” suggesting that the exhibition is concerned not only with artistic movements but also with relationships, belonging and the ways people understand their surroundings.

RM also contributed handwritten Korean introductory texts and artwork labels, accompanied by English translations. His writing offers visitors a direct sense of the thoughts behind the selection, while a narrated audio guide provides another way to engage with the collection.

A New Audience for Korean Art

The exhibition arrives at a moment when RM’s global recognition can introduce visual art to people who might not usually visit a museum. Reports published on 7 October indicated that 50,000 ticket reservations had been made, with membership previews fully booked and opening-weekend tickets sold out.

Still, the exhibition’s importance extends beyond attendance. It presents Korean art as a broad and varied field, rather than a narrow category defined by one style or period. By placing Korean works in conversation with international artists, the museum encourages visitors to recognize both the distinct qualities of individual traditions and the ideas that connect them.

RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me offers more than a display of works owned by a famous musician. For those already interested in visual art, it provides an opportunity to encounter Korean works through a perspective that values personal meaning alongside artistic context. The exhibition is scheduled to remain on view at SFMOMA through 7 February 2027.