EXHIBITIONS
Foreordained Gesture : Aug. 03 - 19, 2007
At Nuart Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Foreordained Gesture introduced a new direction in Lee’s work incorporated under three titles: Thousands of Roads, Seraphic Stone, and Elysian Foot. The new series uses symbolic large-scale mark making contrasted against a light background. Lee brought to her work the freedom of spontaneous gesture while maintaining a considered balance with conceptual intent.
Introduction
Exhibit scene
Intimacy without Restraint: Mar. 10 - Jul. 9, 2006
At Utah Museum of Fine Arts, SLC, Utah
Solo show curated by Frank McEntire and essay by Jim Edwards (Curator at the Salt Lake Art Center, Salt Lake City, Utah) featuring all square paintings (88x88 and 12x12 inches). In this show, Lee explored her individual study, which combined Asian philosophies and Western methodology.
Exhibit scene
Installation scene
Deseret Morning News article by Dave Gagon, (Apr. 2, 2006)
The Salt Lake Tribune article by Brandon Griggs, (Mar. 11, 2006)
Outside Sight: 2006
At Phillips Gallery, SLC, Utah
Solo show in conjunction with Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Intimacy without Restraint. Various sizes of large paintings and small works in grid were shown. Outside Sight paintings explore Lee’s sense of spiritual identity through gesture and space.
When Gesture Finds Its Power: Mar. 3 - Apr. 30, 2005
At Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Logan, Utah
Essay “chunji-changjo (heaven and earth): The “Creation” Paintings of Hyunmee Lee, by Frank McEntire, (Curator and artist, SLC, Utah)
Solo show of the Creation Series, Chunji-Changjo and Mee and Me, conveyed Lee’s thoughts of formlessness, which considers the idea that ‘the self in reality has no form.’ 90 Days of Improvisation, 90 pieces of 12x12 inch paintings demonstrating spontaneous gesture were displayed in grid. A panel discussion and lecture were also held during the show.
Exhibit scene
Mountain Armatures : Sept. 21 – Nov. 15, 2002
At the Woodbury Gallery, Orem, Utah
Essay by Bruce Adams (Art historian/ Art critic, Sydney)
Solo show inspired by the mountainous landscape of Utah, Lee has produced a series of large-scale compositions that combine her understanding of Eastern calligraphic traditions with an energetic design influenced by Western modernist painting. In essence, Lee’s response to living among the mountains of Utah became the driving force behind her art in 2001 and 2002. These paintings express the meeting point of her Korean past and American present.
Exhibit scene
Seeing Through the Self : Oct. 15 – 24, 1997
At Moin Gallery, Seoul, Korea
Essay by Seo, Seong-Rok (Art Critic, Seoul): Seeing Through the Self: Paintings by Hyunmee Lee
Solo show of large-scale paintings entitled “Connection” and “Seeing Through the Self”. The paintings presented were more free and abstract than before. Lee challenged herself to express human identity and existence with the absence of figures, but only through color, medium, and energy.
Objecthood-Intrinsic Space: Apr. 21 – 29, 1995
At Ihn Gallery, Seoul, Korea
Essay by Kim, Bok Young: (Art Critic/ Professor, Hong-Ik University, Seoul): Unconsciousness and Gesture, An Autobiographical Interpretation of It: Lee Hyunmee’s “ Objecthood- Intrinsic Space
Lee’s 6th solo exhibition under the theme of “Objecthood-Intrinsic Space” focuses on the matter of ‘self’, and in so doing is “trying to explore the realm of the original human sprit.” Lee often used personally relevant objects, such as the window, door, chair, and bamboo. As a result of this show she established the methodology of her work.