(Slightly updated, August 2013)

Hat tip to the (sadly now defunct) Startdrawing.org. But you can still go directly to Kim Joon’s own website for hundreds more examples of his work. Here’s a small selection:

(Party-red Hole, 2007. Photo directly from Kim Joon’s website)

With apologies, I rejected posting examples with male subjects back in 2008, primarily because I didn’t particularly like Kim Joon’s choice of only stocky men or those lacking any muscle definition (as opposed to his choice of universally tall and skinny or athletic* women, a body type I admit I find both aesthetically pleasing and sexually attractive). I’ve since come to appreciate them though, and fortunately there’s still many 2005 examples available here. Also, he did start using more muscular male subjects a few years later.

(We-adidas, 2005. Source: 普若 安 )

Unfortunately, despite the plethora of websites that feature his work, very few give any specific details about how he actually makes his images, and him being described a “tattooist” left me rather confused: are they primarily tattoos, computer graphics, or both? From what I can make out from the “text” section of his site, different images required different techniques, but most of them were substantially changed on a computer after the original photos were taken.

(Photo directly from Kim Joon’s website)

Looking at his profile, he does live in Korea and has exhibited here often, and so I’ll try to keep tabs on when his next exhibition is coming up, although if any readers hear before me I’d be very grateful if they could pass it on. Also, have any readers already seen his work in person? What did you think? Did seeing the photos at a large scale make you like the art any more or less?

*I’ve also since come to realize that “athletic” is a misleading and inappropriate term for this body type, as athletes of both sexes actually come in all shapes and sizes. Can any readers suggest a better alternative?

(Update, November 2008: Here’s a follow-up post on later exhibitions of his work)