Julia Kim Smith

the man i wish i was

The Man I Wish I Was (The Man My Parents Wish I Was) is a large-scale text-based print of words taken from descriptions from a sperm bank of donors of Korean descent, arranged to form a life-size silhouette of a man.
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The Man I Wish I Was: Donor 2025, Size: 47 x 81" (framed)
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Site: Waller Gallery, Baltimore, MD, Transit, Curator: Joy Davis (image courtesy Waller Gallery)
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The Man I Wish I Was detail
Site: Waller Gallery, Baltimore, MD, Transit, Curator: Joy Davis (image courtesy Waller Gallery)
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The Man I Wish I Was: Donor 2010, Size: 44 x 66"

Title
the man i wish i was

Year
2025

Medium
archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag

Exhibition History

  • Waller Gallery, Baltimore, MD 2026
    Transit, Curator: Joy Davis
  • A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 2010
    The Man I Wish I Was, Curator: Kharis Kennedy
    Jurors: Kat Griefen, Kharis Kennedy, Lauren Ross
    Exhibiting artists: Renee Cox, Enid Crow, Kerry Downey, Kelly Flynn, Coco Fusco, Francie Bishop Good, Catherine Kunkemueller, Liz Lessner, Sarah Maple, Sands Murray-Wassink, Dominique Paul, Phranc, Shannon Plumb, Julia Kim Smith, Annie Sprinkle, Diane Torr, Linn Underhill, Martha Wilson

Press
BmoreArt, Cara Ober, “Seen & Heard: A Conversation with Julia Kim Smith,” February 2026
- Kharis Kennedy website, “The Man I Wish I Was,” 2009

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