The dazzling, hyper-visible world of global superstardom is usually defined by blinding stage lights, deafening roars, and relentless perpetual motion. But step inside the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) right now, and you will find one of the planet’s most iconic musicians stripping away the gloss to reveal a deeply pensive, unguarded side. RM—the powerhouse leader of K-pop titan BTS—is officially making waves in the art world with his groundbreaking debut exhibition, Between You and Me, running from October 3 through February 7, 2027. Serving as his first-ever stint as a co-curator, this landmark showcase brings together nearly 200 breathtaking pieces, including 142 works straight from his own private collection alongside 36 museum treasures, uniting centuries, cultures, and mediums in an astonishing display of creative curiosity.

A Kaleidoscope of Masterpieces: Inside the Mind of Kim Namjoon

Forget linear historical timelines or predictable gallery layouts. RM—born Kim Namjoon, a 32-year-old private citizen from Seoul—insisted on radical variety from the very start. Co-curator Hyoeun Kim revealed to Deadline that the rapper adamantly rejected a singular style or medium, curating a vibrant, eclectic space where paintings, sculptures, furniture, ceramics, textiles, and animations converse seamlessly across time and space. Spanning works by legendary names such as To Sangbong, Yun Hyong-keun, Mark Rothko, Chang Ucchin, Henri Matisse, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Nam June Paik, the exhibition deliberately bridges Korean artistic heritage with international masterpieces.

RM’s passionate love affair with the art world is well-documented, sparked back in 2018 during downtime on a BTS tour when he visited The Art Institute of Chicago. Since then, his dedication has evolved far beyond casual collecting: from donating $80,000 in 2020 to the Korean National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Foundation to fund art books for public libraries, to narrating an audio guide for LACMA in 2022, and stepping up this past June as the National Museum of Korea’s very first Global Public Relations Ambassador. Yet, far from trying to play the part of a pretentious, untouchable elite, RM opened the exhibition with disarming self-awareness, joking to the media: “Do I really need to carry so many unnecessary things that I don’t even need? Have I ended up becoming just a boring, rich snore? I’m always drifting and floating somewhere, whether I’m in the U.S. or even when I’m in Seoul… and it’s not a very pleasant feeling. So I think I’ve leaned on art a lot because of that feeling.”

The Beating Heart of the Exhibition: Exploring the Chaos of I Don’t Know, But I Like It

Divided into eight evocative sections—Bluewater, Friendscape, Home, Photobuddha, People, Passion, I Don’t Know, But I Like It, and Umber—the exhibition offers profound glimpses into the human psyche. However, it is the electric, galaxy-blue room titled I Don’t Know, But I Like It that serves as the absolute beating heart of the showcase. Defying traditional museum decorum, the gallery features rugged rock formations, a modern home model pierced by boulders, abstract warped faces, pixelated imagery, childlike scribblings by Cy Twombly, a tidy list of human anxieties, and—to the utter delight of fans—an animated celluloid of Pokémon icon Pikachu!

RM (Kim Namjoon) of BTS reveals what his @SFMOMA exhibition collaboration, #RMxSFMOMA: Between You and Me, has in store, including 142 artworks from his personal collection:

“I tried to make this exhibition as interesting and new as I could… It makes me very happy that one… pic.twitter.com/SF0NlYGVvs

— Deadline (@DEADLINE) September 30, 2026

Explaining the whimsical title on the gallery walls, RM noted that when people repeatedly asked him to articulate the exact meaning behind these eclectic pieces, he simply couldn’t convey it through words: “So, I just made a room instead… They’re simply things that I like. But when you think about it, that’s how everyone lives. A captured image, a sentence that passed by, a playlist for working out, a strangely shaped pebble picked up from the beach… even a corner of the heart is, in the end, just each person’s own small exhibition. I don’t know why, I just like it. And honestly, that’s enough.”

The inclusion of the lonely Pikachu cell struck a particularly emotional chord, offering a surprising metaphor for RM’s own relationship with fame and isolation. As he pointed out on the museum marker: “This Pikachu looks a little lonely. Usually he’s running, firing thunderbolts, always by your side—but the moment he becomes a cel he drops right out of the story. No background, no next scene, no voice. One expression. Come to think of it, this is the first time he’s ever held still. Even Pikachu needs a break.”

A Moment of Stillness Amidst Global Chaos

Providing this rare moment of stillness is a poetic touch, arriving right in the middle of BTS’ punishing 11-month tour, just days before the group heads off for its Latin American leg. Unsurprisingly, devoted fans known as ARMY descended upon SFMOMA in droves during the private preview, handing out handmade gift bags featuring stickers, bracelets, and humorous “Art of Namjooing” bookmarks celebrating Kim Namjoon’s signature penchant for park walks and admiring nature.

A closer look at some of the pieces on display at @SFMOMA’s #RMxSFMOMA exhibition pic.twitter.com/r1UdwpFtnB

— Deadline (@DEADLINE) September 30, 2026

By pulling back the curtain on his inner world, RM proves that despite the colossal machinery of global pop stardom, he is simply a human being in constant, beautiful flux—absorbing, questioning, and connecting. As he beautifully summarized in his wall statement: “People say this is an age when everything is connected. Yet, I still live on the boundaries… It would be wonderful if this, too, is a flower blooming at a boundary. It’s OK to walk slowly. Pause wherever your heart comes to rest, catch your breath, and I hope you will take a moment to smell the flowers.”

As pre-orders and visitor numbers skyrocket, will this boundary-pushing art debut cement RM’s legacy far beyond the music charts?

Source: compiled from various sources