So if one sees extra of a buzz than common exterior the Saatchi, Ohnim is perhaps why. His Instagram calling card, with 6.3 million followers, is powerful. Sufficient to dwarf Damian Hirst, Rocco Ritchie and Grayson Perry mixed.
Not that Ohnim is impressed by ‘the previous guard’. ‘I don’t need to get too influenced by well-known artists from the previous. For those who like them an excessive amount of your artwork tends to be like theirs,’ he says, his International Eye Visible Tradition award in hand. And Ohnim is creating artwork that’s wholly unique. A fusion of daring, vivid, saturated colors – a medley of giraffes in numerous states of headlessness. Dare I say it, there’s a mischievous air of Andy Warhol to his creations. And which is he most happy with? After an extended pause it’s clear I’m asking an unattainable query. ‘They’re all my infants,’ he says, pearl earrings gleaming.
Then there’s the tattoos. He’s lined in all the things from delicate triangles and crosses on his arms, to a butterfly and the phrase ‘soloist’ on his leg. He hoiks ups his leather-based trousers to proffer an eyeful of the inked items. ‘I did them myself,’ he grins, agreeing they’re one other type of creative expression for him. Ohnim all the time harboured an ambition to color: ‘As soon as I took the time to take it extra significantly, about six years in the past, it allowed me to start out dreaming larger,’ he says. He’s now a part of a bunch of Ok-pop singers turned artists that additionally consists of Jungkook from BTS and Henry Lau (who exhibited at StART final yr).