Artist Statement/ Biography

A concept which penetrates Lee’s oeuvre in whole would be ‘evocation of daily life through paradoxical situations'. What constructs Lee’s world is the history of the self-verification of various subjects for discourse, gathered from his suspicions of the world that’s manifested in the capturing of the various appearances of life. In addition, the artist deals with the structure of his identity, formed by a series of his personally subjective concepts and thoughts. What Lee attains by locating himself in the boundary between contradictory elements is a particular emotional nuance, triggered by his jokes that are just at the right degree of subtlety. Therefore, rather than taking reality in a serious manner, Lee attempts to take the world critically by throwing fleeting jokes to life. Such attitude of the artist goes beyond merely taking either positive or negative image on the human life so filled with contradictions. Rather, it's more like he is trying to summon a rupture or evocation in the perception of the world itself by creating a situation of destruction and subversion on the logic of life as a subject.

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Wonwoo Lee focuses on works that explore the various elements of life, articulating them through various mediums such as performance, sculpture, video and installation, etc. Lee received his BFA in Sculpture at Hongik University, Korea, and his MFA in Sculpture from the Royal College of Art in London, UK. Lee has shown his works in various prominent art venues in Korea and abroad including Seoul Museum of Art, Art Sonje Center, Amore Pacific Museum of Art, and Songzhuang Art Center (Beijing), as well as having participated in various projects such as Dear_DTLA in LA, US, and Festival 284 at Culture Station 284 in Seoul, Korea.