Soo-Kyoung Lee

France

Rennes 

Galerie Oniris - Florent Paumelle

Painting

M-488

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This fall, the Oniris Gallery is exhibiting for the second time the French-Korean artist Soo-Kyoung Lee. After graduating in French literature in Seoul and then in Paris, she decided to follow her dream and started painting. Despite the fact that the artist " has learned to paint by herself, without a teacher ", her colorful works, her gestures and her unique way of working with paint are easily identifiable for everyone who has already had the opportunity to discover her artistic universe.

 

Soo-Kyoung Lee is an adept of abstract and spontaneous painting, she admits to never doing any preparation before starting the work. For her, the most important thing is the gesture. Thought and action are simultaneous and it is in this continuity of gestures that the painting becomes tangible.

 

Art critics emphasize the paradox of the artist's works: they are at the same time an act of "veiling and unveiling, of decision and surprise". This paradox is due to the fact that she constructs her painting by the process of several coverings and overlappings. On a monochrome background, the abstract forms wander, overlap, superimpose and disappear. Soo-Kyoung Lee does not need an interpretation and says that his works "do not mean anything". They are the image of the artist's thought: a thought freed from any preconceived idea when she lets her brushes express themselves. In a perpetual declension, Soo-Kyoung Lee changes formats by adapting the initial gesture to the size of the space. She may even change techniques in the middle of a session to add texture or, for example, change the medium. For a number of years, Soo-Kyoung Lee has adopted painting on wood to bring relief and somehow make a connection with Korean culture. The name of the exhibition "Memoria" (lat. memory) describes the paradox that the artist is constantly confronted with during her creative process: she is required to chase her memory and at the same time work with it.

The word "tradition" sounds paradoxical to me in the sense that I recognize certain landmarks only to distance myself from them. Coming from Asia, I have observed a lot of works on paper. They require precise gestures and quick decisions in the face of a material that can tolerate neither repetition nor repentance. The work depends essentially on the mastery of the gesture. My plastic concern had to separate itself from this conception. On the contrary, I counteract my gestures as soon as they tend to repeat themselves. My work proceeds from multiple actions, which I repeat to better differentiate them.

Even though in her technique Soo-Kyoung Lee had to move away from the traditions of Asia, part of the exhibition "Memoria" is imbued with Korean sensibility, with childhood memories. This series, called "Munpei" [door plaque], refers to an old Korean custom of placing a rectangular panel next to the door with the name of the resident of the house on it. The artist works with the substance and, by cutting the wood in a completely free manner, she replaces the specific name with abstract forms. The "Munpei" series contains 1000 pieces in total: each one is unique and colorful as a message to the viewer in the spirit of the Korean door plaque tradition.

 

In this new exhibition at Galerie Oniris, the artist presents works made over the past two years. They illustrate the evolution of Soo-Kyoung Lee's creative process while keeping her characteristic spontaneity.


Memoria | Personal exhibition | Part 1

Memoria | Personal exhibition | Part 1

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