Is This Art? Artist Juxtaposes Her Nude Image Against Urban Landscapes

The massive framework of New York’s abandoned subway stations, tunnels, sewers, catacombs, factories, hospitals and shipyards, have served as the backdrop for Manhattan artist Miru Kim to photograph herself nude.

metro New York:

"She inserts her naked body into the 'organism' of the metropolis, producing ethereal landscapes that explore the interaction of classic femininity and twenty-first century urbane.

'I have always been fascinated by living beings reclaiming the urban ruins,' said Kim.

'Envisioning imaginary beings that could dwell in these spaces, I began to occupy them myself.'

Her artwork has been heralded internationally, though she has gotten into more than a few scrapes with local law enforcement, she says.

She’s been chased by police officers, encountered a violent homeless man in an abandoned Hell’s Kitchen tunnel, and eluded NYPD helicopters for the sake of her art."

Kim was featured as one of America's Best and Brightest 2007 in Esquire magazine. Her work has been spotlighted in international media such as The New York Times, TED.com, The Financial Times, ARTE France, Ovation TV, Time Out New York, NY Arts Magazine an among others. Kim's self-bio describe herself as "an avid cook and a rat lover."

The New York City project is titled "Naked City Spleen." Kim previously produced a series on "The Pig That Therefore I Am:"

Many of her photos, including this one below overlooking New York City from the Williamsburg Bridge, are pretty breathtaking. One wonders why she needed to put her bare skin in the photographs. Kim explains what she was doing towards the end of her statement on the "Naked City Spleen:"

"I have always been fascinated by living beings reclaiming the urban ruins, having come across more than just rats: wild dogs, cats, birds, and bees nesting in sugar barrels in abandoned sugar factories. Envisioning imaginary beings that could dwell in these spaces, I began to occupy them myself. I became an animal or a child interacting with the surroundings. As I momentarily inhabit these deserted sites, they are transformed from strange to familiar, from harsh to calm, from dangerous to ludic."