BTS Unveils Final 'Connect, BTS' Exhibition in New York City With Antony Gormley Installation

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K-pop royalty BTS have unveiled the final leg of their global art project Connect, BTS in New York City with an exhibition in Brooklyn featuring an installation by acclaimed British artist Sir Antony Gormley.

A series of exhibitions have been unveiled in London, Berlin, Buenos Aires and Seoul before the latest one in New York City. Each temporary exhibition from the project showcases the work of an artist chosen by BTS to be featured in the project.

The final installment—titled "New York Clearing"—is an outdoor installation featuring a swirling thin metal line "looping and swooping" continuously without a beginning or an end. Displayed at Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 3, its "evocation of energy will be seen against the skyline of Manhattan and converse with the city across the waters of the East River," the project's website describes.

BTS were "deeply intrigued" by Gormley's thoughts on the concept of space and his belief that his work is about the experience and "creating an energy field," the band described in a letter to Gormley inviting him to be featured in the project.

"Understanding the artwork itself as an open space that is completed by the presence and participation of its viewers is an idea that is familiar to us...our performances are completed only by the support and participation of our fans, ARMY," BTS wrote in the letter.

The band hopes the latest exhibition will allow viewers to "collectively create new energy from their experiences in the work," BTS said in the letter.

"New York Clearing" will be on display until March 27. The exhibitions in London, Seoul and Buenos Aires are available for viewing until March 15, 20 and 22, respectively.

Connect, BTS, which was launched last month, features the work of 22 artists from around the world and aims to "redefine the relationships between art and music, the material and immaterial, artists and their audiences, artists and artists, theory and practice," according to its website.

The artistic director of Connect, BTS—Daehyung Lee—was previously the curator of the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2017.

Connect BTS Antony Gormley installation Brooklyn 2020
A view of the art installation by Antony Gormley as part of the global art project "Connect, BTS" at Brooklyn Bridge Park on February 4, 2020 in New York City. Getty Images

BTS have released the dates for their latest world tour, which include 15 concerts in the U.S. and Canada, the tickets for which are on sale from today.

The band have had a busy start to the new year, having performed at the Grammy Awards for the first time last month. They are the first Korean act to perform at the historic awards show on the biggest night of the music industry.

Last month, their album Love Yourself: Answer was officially certified by the Recording Industry Association of America as a platinum album, making them the first Korean act to have a platinum-selling record in the U.S., while their song "IDOL" also went platinum.

About the writer

Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in travel, health, home/interior design and property/real estate. Soo covered the COVID-19 pandemic extensively from 2020 to 2022, including several interviews with the chief medical advisor to the president, Dr. Anthony Fauci. Soo has reported on various major news events, including the Black Lives Matter movement, the U.S. Capitol riots, the war in Afghanistan, the U.S. and Canadian elections, and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Soo is also a South Korea expert, covering the latest K-dramas—including the breakout hit Squid Game, which she has covered extensively, including from Seoul, the South Korean capital—as well as Korean films, such as the Golden Globe and Oscar-nominated Past Lives, and K-pop news, to interviews with the biggest Korean actors, such as Lee Jung-jae from Squid Game and Star Wars, and Korean directors, such as Golden Globe and Oscar nominee Celine Song. Soo is the author of the book How to Live Korean, which is available in 11 languages, and co-author of the book Hello, South Korea: Meet the Country Behind Hallyu. Before Newsweek, Soo was a travel reporter and commissioning editor for the award-winning travel section of The Daily Telegraph (a leading U.K. national newspaper) for nearly a decade from 2010, reporting on the latest in the travel industry, from travel news, consumer travel and aviation issues to major new openings and emerging destinations. Soo is a graduate of Binghamton University in New York and the journalism school of City University in London, where she earned a Masters in international journalism. You can get in touch with Soo by emailing s.kim@newsweek.com . Follow her on Instagram at @miss.soo.kim or X, formerly Twitter, at @MissSooKim .Languages spoken: English and Korean


Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in Read more