Per a statement from Paris’s Daniel Maghen Gallery, which had been exhibiting his work, South Korean artist Kim Jung Gi died after a heart attack on Monday, October 3. According to his official social media, Kim had traveled to the airport to fly to New York Comic Con, when he began to suffer from chest pains, and was taken to a nearby hospital for surgery before he passed away.
Kim was born in Goyang, Seoul, in 1975, and studied Art & Design at the Fine Arts School, and at Dong-Eui university in Busan. He also spent two years in Special Forces, as part of South Korea’s compulsory military service. His first work, “Funny Funny,” was published in Japan’s Weekly Young Jump, and he went on to teach comics at Korean universities and private schools. From 2008 and 2010, he created the webcomic “TLT, Tiger the Long Tail,” the anthropomorphic tale of a tiger who works in an office, with writer Park Seung-Jin.
He gained a devoted international following for his sketchbooks, published in several volumes from 2007 to 2022, featuring detailed drawings created from memory. In France, he collaborated with writer Jean-David Morvan on the graphic novel “SpyGames,” and the biography “McCurry, NYC, 9/11,” and illustrated two books by science fiction author Bernard Werber. In America, he contributed variant covers for DC, Mark Millar’s “Hit-Girl,” and a connecting variant for each issue of Marvel’s “Civil War II.” He became a Guinness World Record holder for Longest Drawing by an Individual, and also worked for video game and advertising companies. He continued to teach online, primarily through his YouTube channel.
You can more about Kim’s life and see his work on his official website. New York Comic Con paid tribute to Kim, tweeting, “We’re so sad to hear of Kim Jung Gi’s passing. He was a pioneering visual artist. You couldn’t watch him draw without being in complete wonderment. More inspiring was his appreciation & kindness towards his fans & his peers. Our hearts are with his friends & family.” Per the statement from Kim’s collaborators, if you want to send a note or a drawing to his family, please send it to 1975-2022[at]kimjunggi.net.
