By Bonnie Gangelhoff
Bus stops. Department stores. Taxi cabs in the fading light of sunset. Juntae Kim moved to San Francisco just two years ago, and he is already a master at capturing the sights, sounds, and rhythms of the City by the Bay. STOCKTON STREET is a quintessential Kim piece, with its moody nighttime atmosphere and bright lights. “Beautiful scenery and city streets inspire me,” says the artist. “In this painting I wanted to focus on artificial light at nighttime.”
Kim moved to the United States from Korea to work on feature films as a matte (background) painter. “I chose fine art as a major because I felt it was important to understand traditional art theory and teachings,” he says. But Kim notes that he fell in love with fine-art painting while a graduate student at Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Kim, who is currently working on a series of works portraying the streets of New York City, is represented by Studio Gallery, San Francisco, CA, and www.juntaekim.com.
Featured in our annual “21 over 31” feature in November 2009