Bronze Sculpture for Sale
South Korea
• 1983
Biography
South Korean artist JeeYoung Lee creates surreal photographs that feature her innermost thoughts, dreams, and hopes. The artist uses her one-room studio as the staging area. Inspired by childhood memories and traditional Korean stories, she meticulously builds surrealist installations. Once done, she takes a photograph of herself immersed in the environment, and the only proof they ever existed is non-photoshopped photographs. She deconstructs the entire installation when she is satisfied with the image, leaving nothing behind. Today JeeYoung Lee's work is part of several private and public collections, including Seoul's OCI Museum, Kyoto Photographic Museum in Japan, Yangpyeong Art Museum in Yangpyeong-gun, Seoul Metropolitan Government, and the Incheon Foundation for Art and Culture.Â
For Lee, who was born in 1983, it took a while to find her true passion. From a young age, she wished to be a painter and enrolled in art high school. After enrolling at Hongik University in Seoul, where she studied Visual Communication Design, she took a break to figure out her interests. Finally, in 2007 after working on her BFA project, a photographic exhibition, she found a medium that fully spoke to her. In 2009 JeeYoung Lee graduated with MFA in photography from Hongik University. Her first solo show entitled was the same year at Gallery Kong.Â
Even though she is a recipient of numerous awards, the most notable one was the Sovereign Art Prize in 2012. Lee captured the world's attention with her first solo exhibition abroad, in 2014 at Opiom Gallery in France. Her career blossomed as her work was shared worldwide over social and news media.
The artist has, over the years, meticulously worked on the project. To finish just one installation inside the 9 x 20 ft studio often takes several weeks and sometimes even days. Every detail is carefully examined and thoroughly, so there is no need for digital manipulation of the photographs. Once the set is finished, she takes a self-portrait. They are never frontal, for that would put all the desires and fears she is trying to express in the foreground. This way, she leaves ample space for her innermost world to shine through.Â
Throughout her career, JeeYoung Lee has participated in numerous group shows, including (2023) at the Korean Cultural Center Brussels in Belgium, (2023) at Hangang Museum in Korea, and (2022) at Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts Japan. Solo exhibitions include (2022) at NOW Gallery in London, and (2020) at Le Grand Parquet (Théâtre Paris-Villette) in Paris.Â
JeeYoung Lee lives and works in Seoul.Â
Nationality