151110 electronic catalog_echo-of-geometry

Häusler Contemporary Munich Kyung-Lim Lee »Echo of Geometry« 11/03/2015 – 01/15/2016

Häusler Contemporary

Häusler Contemporary München Maximilianstraße 35 Eingang Herzog-Rudolf-Straße 80539 München | Deutschland [email protected] Häusler Contemporary Zürich Stampfenbachstrasse 59 8006 Zürich | Schweiz [email protected]

m

Kyung-Lim Lee »Echo of Geometry« With »Echo of Geometry«, Häusler Contemporary Munich proudly introduces Korean-born artist Kyung-Lim Lee to its program. We are delighted that this presentation of recent works by Lee provides the European public for the first time with insight into her geometrical abstract drawings of mythical radiance. Circles, ellipses and also some cornered shapes float over the picture plane in the drawings by this Korean-American artist Kyung- Lim Lee (*1957, Seoul, Korea, lives in Maryland, US). Often they are lit by an indeterminate source of light and appear as volumes, shells or shadows. The overall compositions are sometimes reminiscent of astronomical phenomena, sometimes of landscapes, and yet they always seem to hint at something different, something absolute. Devoid of any representation, they seem to hover in a perpetual state of growth and decay. This first description of Kyung-Lim Lee’s works makes clear that she fuses the overall predominant geometric abstraction with a sensual and even mystical radiance. By choosing the title »Echo of Geometry« for her first solo exhibition in Europe that also marks her first appearance at Häusler Contemporary’s, Lee thus points to a major aspect of her work: it »resonates« with geometry, but the latter fades away and leaves space for imaginary and »emotional« visions that the viewer may produce when looking at the masterful color nuances of Lee’s drawings. As a matter of fact, Kyung-Lim’s works are rooted in meditations on a selection of ten Chinese characters. Having emigrated with her family to the US at the young age of fifteen, the affinity with Korean culture persisted as well as her fascination with Korean language. Her particular interest is focused on the evolution of characters over time and on the comparison of Chinese pictograms and their Korean translations standing for several and sometimes contradictory meanings. After initial exercises with sculpture, Kyung-Lim soon discovered drawing as her medium in which to express this fascination artistically.


Based on this examination of pictograms and meanings of words and in the course of a multi-stage thinking process, the artist developed her very own »sign language«. It is defined by clear and pure forms that she draws with soft contours and tints with seemingly ethereal color gradients. Her careful and precise hand becomes visible in countless marks of pencil, charcoal, sometimes acrylic and – predominant in our exhibition – pastel. The pictures she thus creates visualize geometry as something primal and vivid, something transcendental. Such understanding of geometric abstraction puts Kyung-Lim Lee in close relation to famous names of classic modern art, such as Kasimir Malevich, Piet Mondrian, Wassily Kandinsky or Robert Delaunay. Kyung-Lim Lee studied art in Italy and New York and has received several awards and grants. Her drawings have been exhibited in various group exhibitions in the US, for example at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in New York, at Bronx Museum of the Arts in New York or at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in Scottsdale. Besides individual exhibitions in galleries, the Academy Art Museum in Easton, Maryland, staged her first extensive museum presentation in 2012. Her work is also in major private and institutional collections.



Kyung-Lim Lee »Echo of Geometry« Exhibition View


Sphere and Ellipsoid, 2015 Pastell on paper 41,9 x 59,1 cm / 16 ½ x 23 ¼ in


Leaving, 2015 Pastell on paper 46,4 x 61,6 cm / 18 ¼ x 24 ¼ in


The Form Inside, 2015 Pastell on paper 41,9 x 59, 1 cm / 16 ½ x 23 ¼ in


Ellipse and Circle passing, 2015 Pastell on paper 41, 9 x 59, 1 cm / 16 ½ x 23 ¼ in


Ellipse of Shadow, 2015 Pastell on paper 41,9 x 59, 1 cm / 16 ½ x 23 ¼ in


The Hour, 2015 Pastell on paper 55,9 x 76,2 cm / 22 x 30 in


Green Reflection, 2015 Pastell on paper 55,9 x 76,2 cm / 22 x 30 in


Five Corners, 2015 Pastell on paper 55,9 x 76,2 cm / 22 x 30 in


Recurring Circles, 2015 Pastell on parchment papier 66 x 101,6 cm / 26 x 40 in


Circle and Ellipse, 1999 Pencil on paper 10,5 x 13 cm / 4 ⅛ x 5 ⅛ in


Avatar Triangle, 1999 Pencil on paper 10,5 x 13 cm / 3 ⅞ x 5 ⅛ in


Spherical Chance, 1999 Pencil on paper 11,5 x 13 cm / 4 ½ x 5 ⅛ in


Core Obscure, 2015 Collage and pastell on paper 46,4 x 61,6 cm / 18 ¼ x 24 ¼ in


Perennial Reflection, 2015 Pastell on paper 46,4 x 61,6 cm / 18 ¼ x 24 ¼ in


Following Green, 2015 Pastell on paper 41,9 x 59, 1 cm / 16 ½ x 23 ¼ in


Continuous Shape, 2015 Pastell on paper 41.9 x 59.1 cm / 16 ½ x 23 ¼ in


Connecting Ellipses, 2015 Pastell on paper 41,9 x 59, 1 cm / 16 ½ x 23 ¼ in


Shadow‘s Company, 2015 Pastell on paper 55,9 x 76,2 cm / 22 x 30 in


Kyung-Lim Lee 1957 born in Seoul, KR lives and works in Oxford, US Exhibitions (Selections) 2015 »Echo of Geometry«, Häusler Contemporary München, DE

»The Circle and The Square«, Hiram Butler Gallery, Houston, US 2012 Academy Art Museum, Easton, Maryland, US * 2010 Devin Borden Hiram Butler Gallery, Houston, US * 2008 »Drawings«, Devin Borden Hiram Butler Gallery, Houston, US 2007 Devin Borden Hiram Butler Gallery, Houston, US * 2002 »Quartet«, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, US

»Korean Contemporary Art Festival«, Seoul Art Center, Seoul, KR 2001 »Works on Paper«, The Park Avenue Armory, New York, US 2000 »Silver Select«, Henry Street Settlement, New York, US 1998 »Nature/Culture: The Art Exchange Show«, New York, US 1997 »Heaven: Private View«, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York, US 1996 Sigma Gallery, New York, US * 1995 Galerie Bhak, Seoul, KR * 1993 Sigma Gallery, New York, US * 1991 »Knocking Around New York«, World Trade Center, New York, US 1990 »A Decade of the Marketplace«, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York, US

»New Works / Spring 1990«, Bruce Lurie Gallery, New York, US »Ancestors Known and Unknown: Box Works Art in General«, New York, US

1989 »Impressions: Our World«, Flushing Gallery, New York, US ; Skylight Gallery, New York, US; Kent State University Gallery, Ohio, US »Small Scale Abstraction«, Art in General, New York, US »China, June 4, 1989«, Blum Helman Warehouse, New York, US »Shamanism«, I.S.D. Inc., New York, US

1988 »Immigrant Show«, Alpine Gallery, New York, US 1988 »Artist in the Marketplace«, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York, US 1988 »Yesterday: Reflections on Childhood«, Asian American Arts Centre,

New York, US 1987 »Lyrical Line«, Gallery Korea, New York, US 1986 »Ten Chinatown«, Asian American Arts Centre, New York, US 1985 »Hudson Valley '85: National Juried Competition«, Barrett House,

Poughkeepsie, US 1985 »Pratt Alumni Juried Exhibition«, 22 Wooster Gallery, New York, US * Solo show

151110 electronic catalog_echo-of-geometry

Documents