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Jaeheon Lee (b. 1976 in Ulgin, South Korea) draws on a multitude of influences, synthesizing the techniques of Velasquez, Goya, Bacon, Giacometti, Picasso, Richter, and many others into a unique amalgamated style of painting that brings Korean cultural references and his personal thoughts on the contemporary human condition into dynamic dialogue with the Western canon of painting. Lee aims to bridge the gap between the historical Korean painting tradition and contemporary Korean culture, closing the historical disconnect in figurative painting caused by the Westernization and modernization of the country after Japanese occupation. With a particular spirituality and poetics that permeate his burshwork, Lee, like Giacometti, pursues the existential shape of the human figure by repetitively painting and erasing. The effervescent subjects populating Lee’s paintings, stripped of individual identity, tend to coalesce into a single figure representing for him the state of human civilization in the 21st century. They are beings akin to ghosts, suspended in a state between life and death, between being and memory.
Lee holds an MFA from Seoul National University and is based in Jecheon, South Korea. Solo exhibitions include Ghosts in the Garden at Management, New York; My Ghost at Gallery SP, Seoul; Night Vacuum at Place Mak, Seoul; Abject Beauty at Shin Gallery, New York; Man on the moon at Gallery Chosun, Seoul, and others. Group exhibitions include Time Lapse at PACE, Seoul; The Possible and the Elsewhere at Tang Contemporary Art, Hong Kong; One at a time at WESS, Seoul; Are You Depressed? at Seoul National University Museum of Art; Noon of April at Geomjaejeongseon Art Museum, Seoul; Mindful Mindless at Seoul Olympic Museum of Art; The Secret: Margin of error at Gwangju Museum of Art, the Arko Art Center in Seoul, and the Busan Museum of Art; Ghost House at Jeonbuk Province Art Museum, Jeonju, and others. Lee’s work is in the collections of the Government Art Bank of Korea, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul, and the Seoul National University Museum of Art.
EDUCATION
2008 M.F.A. Seoul National University, Seoul
2006 B.F.A, Seoul National University, Seoul
2003 B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Kyungpook National University, Daegu
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
Ghosts in the Garden, Management, New York
2023
My Ghost, Gallery SP, Seoul
2022
White Castle, Gallery SP, Seoul
2018
Night Vacuum, Place MAK, Seoul
2013
Abject Beauty, Shin Gallery, New York
2010
Man on the moon, Gallery Chosun, Seoul
2008
A History of Violence, Shinhan Gallery, Seoul
2007
Dirty Painting, Stone&water, An yang
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
Time Lapse, PACE, Seoul, Korea
The Possible and the Elsewhere, Tang Contemporary Art, Hong Kong
2023
Spring Collection, GallerySP, Seoul, Korea
Global Citizens - Asia, Hypeart and THE SHOPHOUSE, Tai Hang, Hong Kong
2022
PARAXIS, ART SPACE HOHWA, Seoul, Korea
Three in One, Nook Gallery, Seoul, Korea
Symbolische Techniken der Einhausung, Chamber 1965, Seoul, Korea
2022
The Preview, Gallery SP, Seoul
2021
In Bloom, Hitecollection, Seoul
One at a time, WESS, Seoul
2020
Study for a portrait, Art Space Connection, Seoul
Are You Depressed?, Seoul National University Museum of Art, Seoul
2019
The Utterance of the painter, Place Mak, Seoul
Pick Your Pie, Seoulro media canvas, Seoul
2018
Confession left by the fierce summer, This weekend room, Seoul
From The Face, 2/W, Seoul
2016
Noon of April, Geomjaejeongseon Art Museum, Seoul
2015
Mindful Mindless, Seoul Olympic Museum of Art, Seoul
2014
Affinity90, Gallery Chosun, Seoul
General Store, Project Space Boan, Seoul
2013
Koreanism, Shin Gallery, New York
2012
The Secret: Margin of error, Gwangju Museum of Art, Gwangju
Three ways, Gallery Grimson, Soeul
The Secret: Margin of error, Arko Art Center, Seoul
2011
Ghost House, Jeonbuk Province Art Museum, Jeonju
City_net ASIA 2011, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul
The Secret: Margin of error, Busan Museum of Art, Busan
hey, Artfactory, Paju
2010
Two Ways of Paintings, Gallery King, Seoul
My Story, Gallery Shilla, Daegu
Criminal scenes in Korea, Alternative Space Loop, Seoul
2009
Deep Surface, Gallery Chosun, Seoul
Double ACT, Savina Museum of contemporary art, Seoul
Some Question, DIGITAL KEPCO PLAZA Gallery, Seoul
Dissonant Visions, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul
Portrait Sign, Gallery King, Seoul
The Pleasure Principle, Munhwa Gallery, Seoul
2008
ID GIG no.4 Incheon project, Art Space Plastic, Incheon
Unfaithful, and secret, SOMA Museum of Art, Seoul
2007
Seok-Su Market International Residency Program Open Studio, Anyang
Face-Face, Lee&Park Gallery, Heyri
Woo-Moon-Hyun-dab: is a wise answer to silly question, Kunstdoc, Seoul
Young Artist, Gallery Gaia, Seoul
2006
Are we different?, Dongduk Art Gallery, Seoul
How touching is art for the sake of being Art !?, Stone&Water, An yang
2005
Out Door, Misulsa, Daegu
AWARDS & RESIDENCIES
2018
SFAC (Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture) Support Program
2010
SeMA Young Artists Program
2008
Selected Exhibition of the year, Shinhan Gallery, Seoul, Korea
Nanji Art Studio Residency Program, Seoul Museum of Art
2007
Seok-Su Market International Residency Program Stone&Water, Anyang
2006
SOMA Drawing Center archiving Artist, Soma Museum of Art
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Government Art Bank, Korea
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea
Seoul National University Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea