Andy St. Louis’s Five Favourite Works from Frieze Seoul Viewing Room
The vibrational paintings of Joon Lee and Kang Seung Lee’s LGBTQ tributes: the art critic’s picks from Frieze Seoul 2024
The vibrational paintings of Joon Lee and Kang Seung Lee’s LGBTQ tributes: the art critic’s picks from Frieze Seoul 2024
Wonwoo Lee, SUMMER DANCE, 2023
Stainless steel super mirror, steel, paint, silkscreen, 80 x 60 cm. Edition 1/8 + 2AP. Presented by PKM Gallery
Wonwoo Lee elicits a heightened awareness of universal lived experiences by confronting viewers with objects and images that reverberate with beautiful banality. This painting over a mirrored surface takes on a striking element of dimensionality along with a sense of levity; viewers see themselves as a literal reflection of the block text ‘SUMMER DANCE’, connecting to individual memories and imagined scenarios of carefree physical expression.
Joon Lee, Mountains and Waters, 1986
Acrylic on canvas, 104 x 162 cm. Presented by Hakgojae Gallery
As pioneer of geometric abstraction in Korea, Joon Lee made important contributions to expanding the picture plane through a combination of modern colour theory and unorthodox uses of filigreed linework that lends his paintings a vibrational rhythm. Here, he reinterprets the traditional landscape format of sansuhwa (‘mountain and water painting’) in a work that radiates with visual energy and compositional harmony.
Sojung Jun, Syncope, 2023
Single-channel 4k video, colour, stereo sound, 00:29:30. Edition 2/5 + AP. 2. Presented by Barakat Contemporary
The non-linear storytelling approach of Sojung Jun is masterfully executed in this 30-minute video, which collapses time and space as well as the disparate lives of diasporic protagonists whose experiences reflect each other in a perpetual cycle of recollection and return. Jun’s enduring interest in the convergences of sound and movement, and ecology and technology collide in this powerful distillation of the most affective aspects of her practice.
Lee Bul, Perdu CXC, 2023
Mother-of-pearl, acrylic on wooden panel, stainless steel, 163.3 x 113.3 x 6.5 cm. Presented by Lehmann Maupin.
Lee Bul’s ‘Perdu’ series comprises gestural drawings realized through an extremely labour-intensive process, mixing paint and stone powder before sanding the surface to a uniform plane, which is flecked with mother-of-pearl shards. The swooping lines in this piece establish strong formal connections with Lee's seminal ‘Cyborg’ sculpture series, which envisions the female body as curvaceous monsters with a beguiling physical presence.
Kang Seung Lee, Untitled (Chairs), 2023
Graphite, antique 24k gold thread, sambe, pearls, 24k gold leaf, sealing wax on parchment, brass nails, walnut veneer, walnut frame,170 x 164 x 7 cm. Presented by Commonwealth and Council
Memories of queer lives lost are preserved in the haunting drawings and installations of Kang Seung Lee, asserting newfound agency over the countless unwritten histories of the LGBTQ community. The empty chairs drawn in graphite on parchment serve as powerful symbols of lives and relationships interrupted by the devastating effect of AIDS, juxtaposed with plant cuttings embroidered in gold thread on hemp that evoke practices of uprooting and repotting as means of perpetuating organic lineages.
About Andy St. Louis
Andy St. Louis is a Seoul-based art critic and curator whose book Future Present: Contemporary Korean Art (2024) is the first English-language survey of millennial Korean artists. He is the founder of Seoul Art Friend, an online platform dedicated to promoting Korean art.
About Frieze Seoul Viewing Room
Open to all from 28 August to 13 September, Frieze Viewing Room is the online catalogue for the fair, giving global audiences access to gallery presentations coming to Frieze Seoul 2024. Visitors can search artworks by artist, price, date and medium, save favourite artworks and presentations, chat with galleries and much more.
Further Information
Frieze Seoul is at COEX, 4 – 7 September 2024.
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