The leader of BTS is back — not with a comeback stage, but with a canvas.
RM’s Love for Art Turns the World Into a Gallery
Just months after finishing military service, Kim Namjoon has stepped into a new role as the global ambassador for Samsung’s Art TVs, proving once again that art is more than a hobby for him — it’s home. And with his appearance at Art Basel 2025, one of the world’s most prestigious art fairs, he’s not just observing anymore. He’s shaping the global conversation.
Even before this announcement, ARMY knew RM’s love for art ran deep.
Kim Namjoon is a Poet in a Museum
He’s the kind of person who shares Polaroids of quiet gallery corners, who posts about his favourite painters, who buys sculptures not to show off wealth, but to live among beauty.
“I’m someone who gets comfort from stillness,” he once said.
“Art doesn’t shout. It waits.”
This softness — this contemplative way of seeing — is precisely why his new partnership with Samsung makes perfect sense.
Turning Technology Into a Gallery
Through the Samsung Art TV collaboration, RM will guide viewers through curated artwork via personal commentary. Think of it as a private tour, only the gallery is your living room, and the voice in your ear is Namjoon’s.
What do we love most?
He’s not just naming pieces. He’s inviting us to feel them.
He’s helping everyday people, not just art collectors, connect with creativity in their homes, just as BTS helped us connect with ourselves through their music.
Why Art Basel 2025 Matters
On June 18, RM appeared in Switzerland for a special talk at Art Basel.
That’s not just an idol attending an event.
That’s a Korean artist and global voice being invited into one of the most respected spaces in the contemporary art world.
It’s a reminder:
Namjoon isn’t only part of BTS’s future.
He’s a part of the world’s cultural future, too.
When we say art, I think a lot of people, a lot of audiences think it’s a very high level of something.
RM ar Art Basel 2025
But art is already here in our insides, and I think it’s everywhere.
RM_ArtTVSAMSUNG
What This Says About Namjoon’s Next Chapter
RM once said:
“I want to live as a human who makes beautiful things.”
This new role — this quiet, graceful re-entry into the public eye — feels like the beginning of precisely that.
No forced noise. No chase for attention.
Just slow art. Soft impact. Big meaning.
For ARMY, It’s Always Been About More Than Music
If you’ve ever watched a behind-the-scenes clip of Namjoon gazing at paintings or quietly journaling in a park, you know:
He’s teaching us that stillness is powerful.
That depth doesn’t always need volume.
And in a world that moves fast, his way of seeing — really seeing — might be the most radical thing of all.
Intersections Season 2, Episode 1: RM (Kim Nam-joon) – BTS Leader
RM’s Love for Art:
RM have often mentioned the following works by:
- Vincent van Gogh – A Starry Night (Over the Rhône)
- Claude Monet – Meules
- Édouard Manet – Déjeuner sur l’Herbe
- Camille Pissarro – Paysage à Chaponval
- Gustave Courbet, Antoine Bourdelle
RM’s Art Collection and Highlights
Confirmed Owned Works by Kim Namjoon
These are artworks RM is known to have personally purchased or displayed in his home:
- Roni Horn
Untitled (But the boomerang that returns is not the same one I threw) (2013–2017)
→ Translucent glass sculpture inspired by Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami.
→ Purchased from Xavier Hufkens Gallery. - Yun Hyong-keun
→ Two works shown in his home.
→ Korean minimalist painter known for deep earthy tones and meditative brushwork. - Lee Bae
→ Charcoal-based work. One piece in his home, another displayed at HYBE headquarters.
→ RM is also featuring Lee in an upcoming photo book. - Joel Shapiro
→ Sculpture seen in RM’s home. Known for abstract, dynamic human-like forms. - Ugo Rondinone
→ Smaller sculpture from Nuns and Monks series.
→ RM previously visited Seven Magic Mountains in Las Vegas.
Artworks RM Visited or Admired
These pieces/artists were spotlighted in his vlog or Instagram, though not necessarily owned:
- Nam June Paik
→ Works featured at Art Basel Unlimited and Paik Center. RM has shared several of his pieces. - Yoo Youngkuk
→ Visited his exhibition at Kukje Gallery in Seoul. A pioneering Korean abstract artist. - Lee Seung Jio
→ Highlighted at Art Basel. Known for geometric abstraction. - Do Ho Suh
→ Korean contemporary artist noted for architectural fabric sculptures. - Alexander Calder
→ RM praised him as a “pioneer of innovative mobiles.”
→ Seen works at Art Basel, Kunstmuseum Basel, and Fondation Beyeler (The Tree stabile). - Alberto Giacometti
→ Sculptures seen at Fondation Beyeler and Centre Pompidou. - Philip Guston
→ “At the Table” (1969) seen at Art Basel.
→ RM previously read Robert Storr’s book on Guston and visited “Philip Guston Now” in Boston. - Francis Alÿs
Case #4 (North Korea–South Korea) from “Border Barriers Typology”
→ Depicts the Korean DMZ. Seen at Art Basel. - Donald Judd
→ “Forty Found Fakes” at Art Basel Unlimited. RM also visited the Chinati Foundation. - Felix Gonzalez-Torres
→ Joint exhibition with Roni Horn at Pinault Collection, Paris. - Zao Wou-Ki, Alex Katz, Louise Bourgeois (Spider, 1996), Isamu Noguchi (Akari Light Sculptures)
→ All featured at Art Basel and admired by RM. - On Kawara
→ Known for his “Today Series.” RM saw works at Kunstmuseum Basel and previously at Dia:Beacon. - Frank Stella
→ Abstract painting seen during Picasso–El Greco exhibit at Kunstmuseum Basel. - Piet Mondrian
→ Guided fans through a Mondrian exhibition. Commented on New York City (1942) at Centre Pompidou.
The above collection tells us RM’s love for art runs deep. This curated list of artworks and artists featured in RM’s collection, highlighted through his recent vlog, Instagram posts, and travels, and why he is the perfect person to become the Samsung Art TV ambassador.