Here are pictures of each of the pieces:

Link list for countdown:

“Re-Inventing the Wheel” 9/5-9/18 @ The ARTery
Opening Reception: September 5th 6:00-10:00 PM
Closing Reception: September 19th 6:00-10:00 PM

Day 30 (Re-Inventing the Wheel)

“What is about art anyway that we give so much importance? Art is so respected by the poor because what they do is an honest way to get out of the slum using one’s sheer self as the medium. The money earned, proof pure and simple of the value of that individual, the artist. The picture a mother’s son does in jail hangs on her wall as proof that beauty is possible even in the most wretched.

And this is a much different idea than the fancier notion that art is a scam and a rip off. But you can never explain to someone that uses God’s gift to enslave that you have used God’s gift to be free”

-From the Movie Basquiat

This is my favorite quote about art.

“Re-Inventing the Wheel” 9/5-9/18 @ The ARTery
Opening Reception: September 5th 6:00-10:00 PM
Closing Reception: September 19th 6:00-10:00 PM

Day 30 (Re-Inventing the Wheel)

5. Timbaland, Nelly Furtado, Justin Timberlake, Keri Hilson, – Medley

The whole medly thing is one of the most overused gimmicks for award shows and by and large are extrememly mediocre due to a variety of factors not the least of which are lack of cohesion and a lack of a compelling reason to medly the songs in the medly. And corny interludes. What makes this medly different and the best medly ever performed on televsion is that A. The flow between songs is impeccable. B. The first three songs are by three different artists but they are all produced by Timberland and the last song is a song that featured all three artists. Very cool concept.

Oh and there no corny interludes. If you are wondering, all interludes are corny.

4. Prince – Musicology Acoustic set (MTV)

Prince is the greatest live performer ever. Ever. Well, maybe not ever, I mean maybe Mozart was an absolute demon on stage, I don’t know. He’s definately the best of this era though. The great tragedy of it though is that Prince has not had too many great TV performances during his prime. He had a really good one on the 1984 Grammys and while it was very very good, it still couldn’t touch any of the concert footage I have seen of him. Recently he has had a handful of really cool ones like the Superbowl performance or the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame performance. Ultimately I chose this set a lot because it really shows a cool playful side of Prince that we rarely see. It is also a true testament to how great of a performer he is in that he can aschew all of the dancing and stage theatrics and confine himself to a chair and still be absolutely electric.

3. Michael Jackson – Billie Jean (Motown’s 25th Anniversary Show)

This made Michael the king of pop. Outside of maybe Elvis’s 69′ Comeback Special, the most significant televised musical performance.

2. The Ronettes – Be My Baby/Shout (Sha Na Na?)

This might be due to recording technology back then being unable to properly filter out crowd noises, but the crowd is INSANE in this performance. And Ronnie Spector is super, super adorable.

1. The Time – Jerk Out

This performance has almost no significance whatsoever. There are two huge technical errors in the beginning. Almost nobody has even seen it. The only reason it is the greatest televised performance ever is because it’s just that good.

“Re-Inventing the Wheel” 9/5-9/19 @ The ARTery
Opening Reception: September 5th 6:00-10:00 PM
Closing Reception: September 19th 6:00-10:00 PM

Day 30 (Re-Inventing the Wheel)

I’m gonna switch it up and start a series of Top Ten lists

10. David Bowie – The Man Who Sold the World (SNL)

This performance is one of the most genuinely avante guarde performances of a song on TV. A great and highly artistic moment that rarely ever happens. Klaus Nomi’s backing vocals really put this song on another level. That dude is super weird btw, but he’s great too.

9. T. Rex – Bang a Gong (Top of the Pops)

A very cool performance by one of the coolest frontmen ever in Marc Bolan. Extremely important in that this performance essentially birthed glitter rock. It might be one the most singularly important performances in rock history.

8. TI, Rihanna – Whatever You Like/Live Your Life (VMAs)


T.I. feat. Rihanna - VMA Live - MyVideo

HD Version

Rihanna rising up from a cloud of smoke out of nowhere at the end of “Whatever You Like” might be the single coolest entrance in the history of performance. TI going from performance on video screens to being live on stage while changing clothes mid run might be the coolest transition ever. Showmanship at its absolute finest.

7. Justin Timberlake – My Love/Sexyback (VMAs)

An incredibly well danced performance that offers up everything that makes Justin Timberlake, Justin Timberlake. It’s tightly choreographed when it should be and loose and improvisational when it should be and the flow back and forth between the two styles is perfectly timed. It’s cut off a little. My blog is too skinny, but it looks fly. Just. Like. Me.

6. Nirvana – Where did you Sleep Last Night (MTV Unplugged)

Probably the most powerful vocal performance by a rock singer.

“Re-Inventing the Wheel” 9/5-9/18 @ The ARTery
Opening Reception: September 5th 6:00-10:00 PM
Closing Reception: September 19th 6:00-10:00 PM

Day 30 (Re-Inventing the Wheel)

Prince once said that one of the greatest joys he’s experienced as an artist is when he receives the respect and admiration of people tht he himself admire. Being an artist in my right, I can say with great certainty that I agree wholeheartedly with him. Throughout the relatively short amount of time I’ve been showcasing my work to the viewing public I’ve gained the respect and admiration of some pretty illustrious folks, some of whom I’ve looked up to growing up.

Take for example one Beyonce Knowles. Surprised? She’s such a big fan of your boy she even wrote a song about me that became quite a big hit. Here’s a clip.

I’m not entirely sure how that song has anything to do with me, but still it’s quite a big honor. I’m a little worried about how Jay-Z feels about Beyonce writing about me. Somehow I don’t think he would approve.

Since I feel obligated to start posting pictures of my artwork since, well this whole countdown is supposed to be promoting my show and all, here’s a pic of a new piece that is titled “Girl Waiting for a Bus.” I’ll probably change the title later. It is painted by my group Jerusalem Crickets.

“Re-Inventing the Wheel” 9/5-9/18 @ The ARTery
Opening Reception: September 5th 6:00-10:00 PM
Closing Reception: September 19th 6:00-10:00 PM

Day 30 (Re-Inventing the Wheel)

THERE’S A NEW NUMBER 1!

There are many things that make me such a deadly artist, but if I had to pin-point it to one thing it would definately be my cheekbones. Number 2 though would have to my ability to keep an open mind and maintain a variety of interests.

One of my interests is MMA, of which I’m sort of a fan of. I mean, I’m a big enough fan that I will lay a verbal beatdown on anybody that tries to say BJ Penn is not the best pound-pound fighter in MMA today, but not a big enough fan to like actually watch any of his matches. Or anybody else’s matches for that matter.

Anywho, one of the great advantages of keeping an open on all kinds of interests is that it you will end up getting inroduced to all kinds of great and sometimes life-altering moments that otherwise you would not be privy too. For example, last night I was on Yahoo!’s UFC page looking for articles on how great BJ Penn is and getting really pissed off when Yahoo! only him ranked fifth, I discovered this little nugget of sweetness.

The signifcance of this clip will not be readily apparent but rest assured the Terry Kim writing this article today was not the same Terry Kim yesterday. Mas Puntos for keeping an open mind.

“Re-Inventing the Wheel” 9/5-9/18 @ The ARTery
Opening Reception: September 5th 6:00-10:00 PM
Closing Reception: September 19th 6:00-10:00 PM

Day 30 (Re-Inventing the Wheel)

Most people did not like the first Hulk movie starring Eric Bana, but personally I thought it was great and so did a lot of critics. While the second one with Eddy Norton was generally better recieved, I thought then and still think today, that it was quite folly to abandon all the work done with the first one and start from scratch. However whats done is done and it would be equally stupid to srap the work done with the revamp.

My solution for the sequal? Easy. Combine the two. Here’s a mock-up of what this new Hulk would look like:

I would call this movie The Incredible Hunk. Depending on the success of The Time Traveller’s Wife, this could be a real groundbreakig affair for a comic book movie as it might actually attract that ever elusive 18-24 year old female market.

“Re-Inventing the Wheel” 9/5-9/18 @ The ARTery
Opening Reception: September 5th 6:00-10:00 PM
Closing Reception: September 19th 6:00-10:00 PM

Day 30 (Re-Inventing the Wheel)

I finally finished my Press Release. It feels pretty good although the third paragraph is a little long.

Press Release for “Re-Inventing the Wheel”

Acclaimed underground artist Terry Kim will hosting his fifth solo show, “Re-Inventing the Wheel” at the ARTery Gallery. Both praised and criticized for his heavy use of pop/mainstream imagery in his hyper stylized portrait and figurative paintings, Terry’s artwork has always blurred the lines between the avante guarde and mainstream. With “Re-Inventing the Wheel,” Terry Kim looks to shatter it with a dynamic new collection of paintings that seamlessly blend fashionable imagery of beautiful women with bold color fields and minimalist composition.

The centerpiece for “Re-Inventing the Wheel” however, will not be the artwork, but a spoken word set that will be performed at the opening reception and filmed for an upcoming documentary. The performance, aptly titled “Re-Inventing the Wheel,” will be a unique blend of stand up comedy, personal stories and a Q/A session that will give a unique insight into the mind of a talented young artist with pretty ridiculous ambitions.

Shaq and Lebron are laughing and discussing how great my show will be. They don’t want to invite Kobe though. )

Terry Kim was born and raised in Orange County. He began exhibiting his work publicly in 2005 and has since appeared in numerous shows in the Orange County and LA area. Growing up he always had a real knack for painting and drawing, and although he never cared much for doing either activity, he did enjoy being better than other people at it so he kept it up just enough to keep improving. He hated doing schoolwork which in part led to his decision to skip university or art school.. He took up painting at the age of 20 initially as a roundabout way to get into filmmaking and because he had nothing better to do. He taught himself how to paint by copying pictures from fashion magazines because it was cheaper than hiring a model and he was reading them anyway. His initial plan was to learn to be a crack realist and then transition to more abstract/non-representational work seeing as he doesn’t really like realistic artwork and loves abstract/non representational art (Joan Miro in particularly.) When he started exhibiting paintings of his early fashion picture copies however, his style really caught on. He hated this at first, but when he started seeing that his work was appealing to very wide number of people from the very artsy to people who couldn‘t really care less about art, he became very intrigued with the potential of the style he created.

“Re-Inventing the Wheel” 9/5-9/18 @ The ARTery
Opening Reception: September 5th 6:00-10:00 PM
Closing Reception: September 18th 6:00-10:00 PM

Day 30 (Re-Inventing the Wheel)

I think Prince killed it at the end of Purple Rain with his performances of “Purple Rain,” “I Would Die For You,” and “Baby I’m a Star,” but if I had to be honest The Time’s performance of the Bird trumped them all combined.

A few years ago Morris Day performed at The Grammies I think with Rihanna. He’s still got it man!

What does this have to do with my show? Not a damn thing.

“Re-Inventing the Wheel” 9/5-9/18 @ The ARTery
Opening Reception: September 5th 6:00-10:00 PM
Closing Reception: September 18th 6:00-10:00 PM

Day 30 (Re-Inventing the Wheel)

Here’s a new-ish painting. It’s gonna be in the show and is part of my new series called Color Wheel. It’s mostly finished.

“Re-Inventing the Wheel” 9/5-9/18 @ The ARTery
Opening Reception: September 5th 6:00-10:00 PM
Closing Reception: September 18th 6:00-10:00 PM

Day 30 (Re-Inventing the Wheel)