글로벌 파워 화랑 페이스 갤러리(Pace Gallery)가 베이징(2018), 서울(2019), 홍콩(2022)에 이어 제네바에서 이건용(Lee Kun-Yong, 82) 화백 개인전을 연다. 이번 전시에선 한국 전위미술의 선구자인 이건용 화백의 1976년 신체 드로잉 퍼포먼스 '바디스케이프(Bodyscape)'를 기록한 드로잉 7점, 종이작품 4점 및 사진 등을 소개한다. 1942년 사리원에서 태어난 이 화백은 홍익대 미대 졸업 후 계명대학원에서 교육학으로 석사학위를 받았다. 1969년 아방가르드 예술가 그룹 공간과 시간(S.T. 조형예술학회)를 결성했다. 페이스 갤러리는 한인 작가로 이우환(Lee Ufan) 화백을 대표하고 있다.  

Lee Kun-Yong

Aug 28 – Nov 6, 2024

Pace Gallery, Geneva

Pace is pleased to announce an exhibition of pioneering Korean performance artist and painter Lee Kun-Yong at its gallery in Geneva.

The exhibition will include paintings and drawings that are emblematic of the spectrum of Lee’s practice, as well as photographs documenting a 1976 performance. Running from August 28 to November 6, this exhibition marks the artist’s first-ever presentation in Switzerland.

Lee Kun-Yong is widely regarded as one of Korea’s most influential experimental artists. His practice, which spans performance, sculpture, installation, and video, has been instrumental in shaping the trajectory of contemporary art in Korea and beyond. Emerging in the 1960s and 1970s, Lee was at the forefront of the avant-garde movement in South Korea. Alongside contemporaries such as Ha Chong-Hyun, Jung Kangja, and Kim Kulim, Lee helped to cultivate a distinct Korean dialect within the broader context of Conceptual art. This movement did not merely replicate Western trends but developed a unique voice rooted in the sociopolitical landscape of the time. His work challenges the conventional boundaries of art by emphasizing the physicality of the artist's body as a medium of expression. 

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Lee was a key figure in the Space and Time (ST) movement, which sought to explore the relationship between art and the physical presence of the artist. This movement, characterized by its focus on the experiential and temporal aspects of art, represented a radical departure from traditional art forms. Lee’s involvement in ST was marked by his innovative use of the body to create art, often through performances that highlighted the transient nature of human actions and their impact on the surrounding environment.

“My art is not special,” Lee has said. “It’s not unique. It’s about communicating with things that are close to us. So, if the audience looks into it deeply, we’ll be able to find things that relate to us both.” This approach has led him to create art that is both deeply personal and universally resonant. Lee’s practice often involves making marks on canvases with simple bodily actions, capturing the essence of human movement and its inherent limitations.

The exhibition at Pace will feature seven paintings and four works on paper from Lee’s seminal series Bodyscape series (also known as his The Method of Drawing series). These works exemplify Lee’s innovative use of the body in creating art. Filled with traces of his movements, the canvases are vibrant and alive, reflecting his belief that art is about communicating with things close to us. Photographs from a 1976 performance will also be on view.

Earlier this year, Lee was featured in Only the Young: Experimental Art in South Korea, 1960s-1970s, a major exhibition that travelled from the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, and The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. In August 2023, the artist also performed Snail’s Gallop (1979/2023), at Pace’s flagship gallery in New York. Documentation of this event can be found on Pace’s Journal.

https://www.pacegallery.com