Nude Korean Artist Creates a Stir

Korean-American artist, Miru Kim, who is known for her nude photos in various cities around the world was reportedly arrested in Istanbul, apprehended by police after a citizen reported her for taking nude photographs in an Islamic mosque in the Turkish capital according to news reports.

Kim, a native of Stoneham, Massachusetts who was raised in Seoul, said that her project in Turkey was funded by Samsung.

“With a generous sponsorship of Samsung Turkey, I was able to spend five weeks in Istanbul...I photographed some rarely visited ruins in and around Istanbul, and printed eleven new images as a part of the larger Naked City Spleen series.”

 

She recently denied being arrested in the Korean media.

Miru Kim has been doing nude photographic work since 2004. She sets most of her shoots amid the ruins of the world’s major cities. She has received acclaim for art as a representation of the tenacity of life within ruin.

She also uses it as "therapy" to overcome an obsessive compulsive disorder.

“My work in general involves getting over my fears that are deeply embedded since childhood: Fear of darkness, fear of dangerous activities in general, and fear of dirt - I had a considerable obsessive compulsive disorder as a child,” the Daily Mail quoted her as saying.

Here is an interview with Miru Kim:

 

 

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You can see more of her photographs, which have also been displayed at several galleries here in Korea, on her website, MiruKim.com.

Sulukule, Istanbul, Turkey
 

Demolition Zone, Moraenae, Seoul, Korea

New York's Manhattan Bridge

MiruKim.com

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