Ayoung Kim, a leading figure in contemporary media art, presents her first solo exhibition in Germany, "Many Worlds Over," at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart from February 28 to July 20, 2025. The exhibition marks a significant milestone for both the artist and the museum, as it is the first show in the institution’s history to fully embrace new media art, setting the stage for its future curatorial direction.

Curated by Dr. Sam Bardaouil, director of Hamburger Bahnhof, the exhibition delves into the evolving role of technology in contemporary art and its impact on society. "This exhibition is not just an artistic endeavor but an opportunity to critically engage with how technology shapes modern artistic discourse," he stated. Recognizing its significance, the museum has selected "Many Worlds Over" as its opening exhibition for 2025.

At the heart of the show is Kim’s latest work, "Delivery Dancer’s Arc: 0° Receiver" (2024), first commissioned and exhibited at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Melbourne. This piece extends her ongoing "Delivery Dancer" (2022–present) series, portraying two female riders, Ernst Mo and En Storm, who traverse multiple dimensions of time and space. As they navigate a reality where Seoul exists as one of many possible worlds, the work critically examines the intersection of AI-driven technological evolution and human agency.

The exhibition features a broad selection of Kim’s representative works, including "Delivery Dancer’s Sphere" (2022) and "The Evening Peak Time Is Back" (2022), both of which were previously showcased at her solo exhibition "Syntax and Sorcery" at Gallery Hyundai in 2022. Additional highlights include the "Orbit Dance" series (2022), "Ghost Dancers A & B" (2022), and "Stipulation" (2022), as well as the video game piece "Delivery Dancer Simulation" (2022). The "Orbit Dance" series, in particular, translates key moments and character relationships from her narrative into sculptural forms, creating a topological labyrinth where dancers both lose themselves and communicate through signal-based navigation.

A notable feature of the exhibition is "The Evening Peak Time Is Back," a large-scale wallpaper piece produced in collaboration with Korean webtoon artist 1172. This work integrates elements of Girls’ Love (GL) culture, a queer subgenre of Korean web fiction and webtoons, into its exploration of female delivery riders. By merging speculative fiction with platform labor, Kim highlights the complex socio-cultural dynamics underlying her characters’ experiences.

This exhibition is made possible through the support of Hamburger Bahnhof International Companions e.V., the Samsung Foundation of Culture, and the SBS Foundation. A comprehensive exhibition catalog has been published alongside the show. Following this exhibition, Ayoung Kim will present a solo show at MoMA PS1 in New York from November 6, 2025, to March 16, 2026, further cementing her international presence.

Kim’s work is known for blending mythology, geopolitics, speculative fiction, and advanced technology, creating narratives that bridge historical memory and futuristic speculation. She has exhibited at Mori Art Museum (Tokyo), MoMA (New York), M+ (Hong Kong), and the Sharjah Biennial (2023), among others. Her work is also housed in major museum collections, including Tate Modern (UK), MMCA (Korea), Leeum Museum of Art (Korea), and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi (UAE).

With "Many Worlds Over," Kim offers a thought-provoking reflection on technology, identity, and the blurred boundaries between the virtual and real, solidifying her position as a leading voice in contemporary media art.

Sayart / Jason Yim, yimjongho1969@gmail.com