NEW YORK, N.Y. — R & Company announces The Act of Artwork (New York, March 1 – April 21), the gallery’s second solo exhibition of contemporary ceramic art by Korean artist Hun Chung Lee. Hun Chung Lee began his career as a ceramist, and later expanded into sculpture, conceptual art, architecture and design.
The title of the exhibition, The Act of Artwork, is translated from the Chinese/Korean character, You Hee, and suggests that the act itself of making artwork should be joyful. His philosophy in creating the works is that only if the creator enjoys the process, will the beholder be able to enjoy the works as well. With this body of work, Lee emphasizes the slow and calm balance between the head and the heart, the swift current and calm pond and between tension and rhythm.
The exhibition features more than 40 new works, ranging in scale and function from traditional stools and benches to wall-mounted installations, which include lights, mirrors and hooks. Lee also explores the bath as a functional sculpture and includes an extraordinary hanging piece in ceramic that spans both floors of the gallery. Lee handmade all the works in the exhibition at his studio in Korea, firing them in a hand-made kiln using a celadon glaze that originated in the 15th century. The colors and patterns achieved through his master craftsmanship and painterly approach to the glazing process offer new possibilities for ceramic works in a domestic setting.
Photograph by Myung-Rae Park, courtesy of Seomi International.
Hun Chung Lee was born in Seoul, Korea in 1967. He achieved his BFA in ceramic sculpture from Hong-ik University in Seoul and received two MFAs in sculpture and ceramic sculpture before obtaining his PhD in architecture in 2007 from Kyung-won University in Kyungki-do, Korea. He’s exhibited throughout Korea and the United States and in Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Design Miami Basel.
Text (edited) and photographs courtesy of R & Company.
Do you love or loathe these works of contemporary ceramic art? Let us know in the comments.
Works by Hun-Chung Lee for “The Act of Artwork” at R & Company, New York.
I loved the show. Wonderful color, must be seen.