An exhibition curated by RM, the leader of BTS, has become the biggest box-office success in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's history. RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me, which opened on 3 October, has drawn more than 66,000 ticket sales in its first three weeks, with advance reservations running six times higher than for any previous show at the museum.

The exhibition brings together more than 140 works from RM's personal collection alongside holdings from SFMOMA, centred on modern and contemporary Korean art. Artists on show include Kim Whanki, Yun Hyong-keun, Chang Ucchin and Park Rehyun, as well as the Joseon calligrapher Kim Jeong-hui. RM selected the works himself, wrote the accompanying texts and chose the soundtrack, making his curatorial debut in a museum setting.

The numbers tell a story of a museum transformed. More than 50,000 reservations were made in the opening week, memberships rose by about 500 in a single week, and exhibition merchandise sold out within about three hours of going on sale, with opening-day store sales more than doubling the previous record. Local broadcaster KQED has called it the largest exhibition of Korean art in the museum's history.

The success arrives at a fragile moment for SFMOMA, which cut 29 jobs in May 2025, about 7.5 percent of its workforce, citing falling attendance and a structural deficit. The RM show has filled the galleries and the shop alike, and it runs on the museum's seventh floor through 7 February 2027. The exhibition is the largest show of Korean art the museum has ever staged, and its success has drawn visitors from across the United States and beyond. For a museum that was cutting staff a year ago, the crowds are a reminder of how quickly a single exhibition can change the conversation.