RM Makes Curatorial Debut at SFMOMA With Personal Collection

RM attended a media preview at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) on September 29 ahead of the opening of “RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me.” The exhibition opens to the public on October 3 and runs through February 7, 2027.

“This is my debut as a co-curator, and I’m nervous,” RM told reporters at the preview.

The exhibition is the first museum show devoted to works from RM’s personal collection and the only U.S. presentation of the project. It brings together nearly 200 works from RM and SFMOMA, including many pieces from his collection that have never previously been exhibited publicly in the United States.

From Collector to Co-Curator

RM’s involvement goes considerably further than lending his name or artworks to the exhibition.

He curated the show alongside SFMOMA’s América Castillo and Hyoeun Kim, participating in the selection and arrangement of works and helping shape the exhibition over roughly two years.

RM also contributed Korean- and English-language exhibition texts, recorded a bilingual audio guide and selected music for the galleries.

According to local reporting from the media preview, 142 works come from RM’s collection, while another 36 come from SFMOMA’s holdings.

For RM, the exhibition offers something more personal than a conventional celebrity collection showcase.

He has described the project as a way of introducing himself through the artworks he has accumulated over the years — a collection shaped by the art he has repeatedly turned to while navigating life as a global performer.

Korean Art Meets SFMOMA

The exhibition also places Korean modern and contemporary art in a broader international conversation.

Artists represented from RM’s collection include Yun Hyong-keun, Park Rehyun, Chang Ucchin, Kwon Ok-yon, Kim Yun-shin and Do Sang-bong.

Their works appear alongside pieces from SFMOMA’s collection by artists including Kim Whanki, Nam June Paik, Mark Rothko, Agnes Martin, Henri Matisse and Georgia O’Keeffe.

SFMOMA describes the exhibition as one of the most expansive presentations of Korean modern art in the United States.

The museum says the exhibition creates connections across different artists, cultures and periods rather than presenting RM’s collection in isolation.

Original Context for Overseas Readers

RM’s relationship with visual art has developed publicly for years, but the SFMOMA exhibition represents a significant shift.

He is no longer simply visiting museums, recommending artists or collecting their work. He is participating directly in how those works are selected, interpreted and presented to an international museum audience.

That distinction makes “Between You and Me” particularly notable.

It also gives Korean artists a platform inside a major U.S. institution.

The collaboration itself is unusual for SFMOMA.  According to BigHit Music, it is the museum’s first exhibition collaboration with a K-pop artist.

SFMOMA says it approached RM after taking note of his collecting interests and sustained engagement with contemporary art.

For RM, the result is both public and deeply personal — an exhibition that uses the objects he chose to live with to show another side of the artist behind BTS.

“RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me” runs from October 3, 2026 through February 7, 2027.  It will be at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.