BTS frontman RM is showing his art collection.
asserted
RM → show → collection
Fans are flocking to see it
The gift shop at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is expecting a huge rush over the next few months.
asserted
shop → flock → months
"This is hands down the most inventory that we've ever front-loaded for an exhibition," said the museum's director of retail, Shane Salvata.
asserted
director → load → retail
The popstar is showing art from his personal collection for the first time at a museum, and SFMOMA is packed with fans clamoring to see the works and buy souvenirs.
asserted
SFMOMA → show → souvenirs
Among those there for RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me on the sold-out first day of previews are Bay Area twenty-somethings Joi Karra and Bre Walker.
asserted
Karra → sell → previews
The pair met each other a few months ago at one of the BTS-themed events Walker organizes locally.
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Walker → meet → events
Karra similarly takes BTS fandom seriously.
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Karra → take → fandom
The college student has a side hustle making BTS-inspired pins and other accessories.
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student → have → pins
"I love art and museums," said Karra.
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Karra → love → art
"I am not an artsy person," Walker said.
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Walker → say → ?
"This is my first time actually coming to an art museum.
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This → come → museum
She's talking about Kim Nam-joon — RM's real name.
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She → talk → joon
(RM was once known as "Rap Monster," but has gone by the shorter version for almost a decade.)
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RM → know → decade
BTS's global fanbase — collectively known as ARMY, an acronym for "Adorable Representative M.C. for Youth" — came up with a verb to describe the lifestyle associated with the K-pop star's interests: "Namjooning."
"Just doing all the things that Nam-joon loves doing as well," Karra said by way of definition.
asserted
Karra → know → definition
Visiting museums and collecting art are key to Namjooning.
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Visiting → visit → Namjooning
RM began doing these things nearly a decade ago.
asserted
RM → begin → things
His passion for painting and sculpture inspired some of his songs, such as "Yun" (about the 20th century Korean abstract artist Yun Hyong-keun) and "Still Life" (inspired by seeing still life paintings by 19th century European masters in museums).
asserted
passion → inspire → museums
His art collection focuses heavily on works by Korean artists, from ancient times to the present, including Yun, Kim Whanki and Chang Ucchin.
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collection → focus → Yun
RM, who is 32, worked with two SFMOMA curators on RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me.
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who → work → You
At a press briefing ahead of the opening, RM said it was important to him to make sure the art on display resonated with today's audiences.
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art → say → audiences
"There were two questions that mattered most to me," RM said.
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RM → be → me
"One was, does it move me, really?
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it → move → me
And another was, right now in 2026, does this artist and does this work still have something to tell us?"
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work → do → us
RM also described the exhibition as "a pretty long introduction" to himself.
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RM → describe → himself
Fans like Walker and Karra, whose encyclopedic knowledge about RM goes far beyond the introductory phase, see it as a way to get deeper inside his head.
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knowledge → go → head
"I really just want to be a part of something that RM treasures, and find out why he treasures it," said Walker.
asserted
Walker → want → it
"I want to know why he chose certain pieces and what they mean to him," Karra said.
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Karra → want → him
Deciphering RM through art
At the museum, Walker and Karra try to make sense of several large abstract paintings in a section of the show entirely dedicated to the yellow-brown color umber.
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Walker → decipher → umber
"He's got this obsession with umber and its relation to earth," Walker said.
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Walker → get → earth
"
"And I think he likes abstract pieces because they can be interactive, like meditative," added Karra.
asserted
Karra → think → pieces
"You can look at one of these and get lost in it.
asserted
You → look → it
Even though there isn't much going on, it invites your imagination to fill in the pieces.
asserted
it → be → pieces
In one of the eight sections of the show, titled "Friendscape" and focused on the natural world and animals, the pair are struck by a cluster of seven delicately-carved waterfowl made out of wood by an anonymous, long-dead Korean artist.
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pair → title → artist
"That has to allude to BTS somehow because of the seven members, right?" said Karra.
asserted
Karra → have → members
"Most winters, he likes to make little snow ducks — seven of them for the members.
asserted
he → like → members
So I think that might be a bit of a nod to that."
uncertain
that → think → that
"We're on the seventh floor, and there are seven ducks," said Walker.
asserted
Walker → be → floor
Not all of the art on display is as easy for these fans to interpret.
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fans → interpret → display
A rock with the word "candy" engraved on it in orange by the contemporary multimedia artist Wonwoo Lee leaves Walker and Karra baffled.
asserted
rock → engrave → Walker
Fittingly, it's in a section titled "I don't know … but I like it."
asserted
I → title → it
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
