Herry Kim: A Tender World, Travelling

Written By Rodania Leong

On the press, the practice, and a Hong Kong moment

Two years ago, I met a young Korean painter in Los Angeles who was still very much mid-experiment, moving between mediums, between cities, between the version of her practice that had come out of CalArts and whatever was coming next. Today, that same artist is the subject of features in Metal Magazine, AATONAU, and HENI, and is about to land in Hong Kong for one of the most-watched fairs of the spring. Watching Herry Kim's trajectory unfold has been one of the great privileges of this work, and right now feels like the moment to say so out loud.

The press, in her own words

In Metal Magazine, writer Carlos Pinzon opens his profile with a phrase Herry now wears like a thesis: "Cute is strong." It's a small line that does a lot of work. Across the interview, she walks through the throughlines of her practice, the recurring figure of Smile, her turn toward Korean pigments and Seon (Zen) Buddhism, the Joseon folk tradition that informs her ceramics, and the way I-Ching logic quietly threads through her thinking about colour, duality, and digital systems. It's the most complete portrait of her interior life that's been published to date, and worth reading in full. (Metal Magazine)

AATONAU approached her from a different angle. Writer Bianca Kann frames her as an artist "painting soft worlds from digital memory", locating her practice at the intersection of online environments (IMVU treehouses, avatars, chat platforms) and the slower, more contemplative pull of Korean Seon thought. The piece pivots on a moment I've always found moving: a visit to the Norton Simon Museum after her MFA, when an encounter with Les Nabis sent her straight to the art store to start painting again. (AATONAU)

HENI's coverage rounds out the picture, situating her among the contemporary Korean painters whose work is travelling internationally right now. [HENI]

Taken together, three different publications, three different lenses — and the same artist coming into sharper focus. That's the part that matters.

Hong Kong, May 14–17

This week she'll be at Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong with Topohaus, the gallery presenting her work at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from May 14 to 17. The fair brings together more than a hundred galleries and works priced from roughly HK$1,000 to HK$100,000, a real entry point for newer collectors and a serious looking-ground for seasoned ones. (Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong)

If you're a collector in Hong Kong, or passing through during fair week — go and stand in front of the work. Herry's paintings reward in-person looking in a way the JPEGs can only hint at: the oil-and-acrylic surfaces, the pastel-into-liminal palette she's been developing since relocating between Seoul and LA, the way Smile meets your eye from the canvas. We have a limited number of complimentary tickets to share, message us and we'll send one your way. Bring a friend. Bring a wishlist.

Two years in, and what we've learned

When we first met in LA, Herry was somewhere between Los Angeles and Seoul, between graduate school and whatever comes after, and by her own admission, between styles. What I've watched happen over these two years is the kind of consolidation you can't rush: a clearer visual grammar, a deeper material vocabulary (ceramics, ball-jointed dolls, traditional Korean pigments, oil pastels), and an artist who now writes and talks about her practice with the same generosity she paints with.

Last autumn we presented STARLIT SYNTAX — her solo show at UPSTAIRS | INÉ, and it remains one of the warmest rooms I've ever stood in. The press cycle she's in right now is, in many ways, the public catching up to what's been on her canvases all along.

For collectors

A handful of works from Herry's recent series remain available through exhibited.at, with new pieces tied to the Hong Kong presentation arriving in the coming weeks. If you'd like a preview ahead of the fair, the current price list, an introduction to Topohaus directly, or a complimentary ticket to the fair if you'll be in Hong Kong, message us and we'll make it easy.

For artists thinking about representation

If you're an artist watching this trajectory and wondering what it looks like to work with someone like me: this is it. Patient, long-horizon, press-supportive, fair-strategic, and built around what your practice actually needs, not a template. If that's the kind of partnership you're looking for, here's where we begin.

Congratulations, Herry, enjoy Hong Kong!

— Ro, exhibited.at

Press links

Fair details Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong 2026 · Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai · May 14–17, 2026 · Presented by Topohaus → https://affordableartfair.com/fairs/hong-kong/

Rodania Leong
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Artist Mentorship & Career Development: How exhibited.at Works with Emerging Artists