Meet Rebekah Kim

We recently connected with Rebekah Kim and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Rebekah, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

I heard an entrepreneur once say, “I start with the end of the story. I’m filling in the script that gets me there.”

Questions of mortality and existential moments are a visceral reframing of reality–they can be enlightening and terrifying. I saw end of life scenarios playing in my mind, dialogues examining a life lived. And then it hit me—the shame of my excuses defending my fears and doubts. All of which kept me from actually pursuing my convictions. I mean, the kind of convictions that wake you up in the middle of the night. It was a sobering moment and I felt a sense of urgency towards everything to say the least.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

When you graduate art school in your early twenties, it’s difficult to say where you’ll end up. I thought I would be an artist, I moved to Berlin in 2009 to be around other artists and quickly faced the realities of what that looked like. I worked for artists and then got a job with a publisher in Seoul for their photography magazine and books. I fell in love with editorial. I loved everything about being an editor, which is a lot like being a curator. I always thought I’d start a publishing house before ever considering a gallery.

Around 2013, I unexpectedly landed a job at a gallery, it was not a career path I had planned for. I spent the next decade working in the art world in various roles in the galleries to an art advisory and eventually became a consultant. I was advising a client on setting up a gallery in New York and as we faced real estate challenges, I proposed starting with a project space. They didn’t seem interested and I ended up pursuing the idea myself. At the time, I lived in a brownstone in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, the old New York architecture inspired me. I thought, “what more is a gallery than art on the walls and people to come see it?” That’s how it all began. Fast forward and now I’ve landed in a modest, upper level space in Chelsea, which again was never the plan. Some kind of pattern here it seems.

My focus right now is building the gallery program, my interests are diverse and that reflects. There are many building blocks needed to develop a successful career for an artist or estate. I’m hyper aware of the needs and stages, but ultimately, I work with artists who are just as obsessed. With art, there is little separation in identity and profession, it’s all consuming.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Pay attention to your inspirations, find your vision and start with small steps. Be relentless and persevere. By default, I’m a big picture thinker, but it wasn’t until I got a grip on execution that everything changed. “Ideas are cheap, execution is expensive” as they say.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?

I’m a believer in the mind-body connection. It’s said that the body follows the mind, including things like illness. When I’m mentally overwhelmed, which is usually about things beyond my control, I control what I can. Personally, I do things that wear me out, like a non-stop mile long swim or I walk a 100+ blocks, it’s a bit extreme, but it works for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.picturetheoryprojects.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/picture.theory/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebekah-kim-a1284710/
• Other:

Image Credits

Rebekah’s portrait – Photographer credit: Rob Tarleton

Black & White installs – Photographer credit: Daniel Sostaric

All other photos – Courtesy of Picture Theory