LEE JongGeon

In my work, I explore both domestic and public architectural structures, such as staircases or historic monuments that have been displaced from their original contexts. Having lived both in Korea and the United States, my sense of belonging to either one of these cultures has been continuously disrupted. As a result, I have come to view historic architectural structures through the lens of cultural dislocation; I realize now, that when these architectural structures are displaced, the cultures that they represent are also dislodged from their origins.

In an effort to capture my experience of cultural displacement, I reproduce components of architectural structures as sculptural objects and installations in order to evoke both the time and space of its origins. I distort and crop the decorative elements of domestic Colonial houses, reconfigure the scale and material of historic monuments, and combine historic architectural structures with everyday objects. In the work, I transform the architectural structures to dislodge them from their initial function of structure. As a result, in each of the pieces, time becomes fixed and isolated from its conventional cycle, creating memories of space.

LEE JongGeon
Born in    1979, Seoul, Korea

EDUCATION
2010    M.F.A in Sculpture, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
2007    M.F.A in Sculpture, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
2004    B.F.A in Sculpture, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITION
2013    Home After Home, salon de H, Seoul, Korea
2012    Almost Home, Kumho Museum, Seoul, Korea
2011    Notes From In Between, Hudson D. Walker Gallery, Provincetown, MA, USA
2007    Extraction, Songeun Gallery, Seoul, Korea

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITION
2014    Reading the Rhythm, Hearing the Space, BSSM Baiksoonshil
             Museum, Paju, Korea
             Hommage a Whanki, Whanki Museum, Seoul, Korea
2013    Manifestation, LIG Art Space, Seoul, Korea
             Position of Sensory, Kunstdoc, Seoul, Korea
2012    Korean Eye: Energy and Matter, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
             B19, Humanities Gallery, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY
2011    Casting Memories, ArtGate Gallery, NY, NY, USA
              I Was There, Doosan Gallery, New York, NY, USA
              Epilogue / On The Border, Kyeonggi Musuem of Modern Art, Ansan, Korea
              Shift and Flow, Dorsky Gallery, Long Island City, NY, USA
2010    EAF10, Socrates Sculpture Park, Long Island City, NY, USA