BTS leader RM is bringing his love of contemporary art to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), exhibiting works from his private collection in a major show opening in October 2026. The exhibition, titled “RM x SFMOMA,” will run through February 2027.
Organized in collaboration with SFMOMA curators América Castillo and Hyoeun Kim, the exhibition will feature 200 works drawn from both RM’s and the museum’s collections. Many of these pieces will be on public view for the first time.
“We live in an age defined by boundaries,” RM said in a statement. “This exhibition at SFMOMA reflects those boundaries: between East and West, Korea and America, the modern and the contemporary, the personal and the universal. I don’t want to prescribe how these works should be seen; whether out of curiosity or study, all perspectives are welcome. My only hope is that this exhibition can be a small but sturdy bridge for many.”
RM, born Kim Nam-joon, is a founding member of one of the most popular K-pop boy band groups in the world, BTS. He is also one of many K-pop stars that is engaged in art collecting. Members of South Korean boyband BIGBANG, G-Dragon and T.O.P., were both named in the “50 Art Collectors to Watch” by ARTnews in 2019. Earlier this year, K-pop boyband ASTRO’s Cha Eun-woo posted a photo that stirred buzz interest in his art collection—one featured a Hyun Ju Kim artwork. Another BTS bandmate, V, or Kim Taehyung, is also an avid art collector.
Artists represented include modern and contemporary Korean figures such as Yun Hyong-keun, Park Rehyun, Kwon Okyon, Kim Yun Shin, To Sangbong, and Chang Ucchin. The exhibition will place RM’s collection in conversation with SFMOMA works by Korean artist Kim Whanki, as well as pieces by international artists including Mark Rothko, Agnes Martin, Henri Matisse, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Paul Klee.
“Visitors will have an unprecedented opportunity to explore RM’s beautiful and contemplative collection of paintings and sculpture in dialogue with works from SFMOMA’s holdings, inviting us to make new discoveries and reflect on our own relationships with art,” Janet Bishop, chief curator at SFMOMA, said in a statement.
The announcement comes after RM completed his mandatory South Korean military service in June. He has since reconnected with fans and his BTS bandmates, with whom he last toured in 2021.
