"In a few years he'll get Nobel prize": Fans laud BTS Namjoon as his collection with Korea's top artists to be on full display at Venice Biennale

On January 31, 2024, Kim Namjoon of BTS was mentioned in the same vein as the Korean Pavillion for the Venice Art Biennale. On the 30th anniversary of its pavilion, Yonhap News reported that the BTS leader's personal art collection will be present at the 60th edition of the Biennale—one of the most prominent art exhibitions in the world. One of the 1968 artworks by Yoo Youngkuk, titled Work, which Kim Namjoon owns, will be showcased at the Biennale.

This is a significant moment for the BTS artist and music producer, who is an avid art collector and admirer. The BTS ARMY praised him for his influence and importance in the art community.

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"Country's most influential art patrons": Fans lavish praise on Kim Namjoon's massive reverence and significance in the art world

Amidst preparations for the 30th anniversary of its pavilion, South Korea's art is especially relevant to the 60th edition of the Biennale. Namjoon's art collection was borrowed for the showcase. This is not the first time the Indigo rapper has engaged with the maestros of contemporary art.

The BTS frontman contacted the artist Moon Sung-sic for the cover art of Bicycle, his 2022 unofficial single. With a distinct technique that blends Western and Eastern drawing traditions, Moon Sung-sic is renowned for deconstructing the intricacy of the universe as viewed through his eyes. He became the youngest Korean artist to participate in the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2005.

The Korean Pavilion at the Venice Art Biennale this year has plenty to present, ranging from the maestro of Korean abstract artwork, Yoo Young-kuk (1916–2002), to one of the first-generation female Korean conceptual painters, Seundja Rhee (1918–2009). The Venice Art Biennale is also scheduled to open on April 20, 2024.

To present a more comprehensive image of what visitors to the Korean Pavilion might expect, the state art development agency ARKO invited seven additional public and private art organizations, notably the Gwangju Biennale Foundation, to the press conference.

ARKO will document and showcase the works of the 38 artists who have represented the nation in the Biennale over the past three decades in a unique exhibition titled Every Island is a Mountain, highlighting the ability of art to heal societal differences and hatred. Among these revered artworks would stand Namjoon's collection as one of the country's most influential art patrons.

The BTS ARMY expressed their pride on X and celebrated the BTS idol's new feat.

Previously, on January 25, 2024, Namjoon's song Voice from his first mixtape RM was presented in the famous artist Lee Dong-jae's art exhibition for his show Icon, Light and Narrative at Peyto Gallery.