We are delighted to announce the opening of LIQUID SOUL: Recent Paintings By Jongwang Lee, on view through November 10. This exhibition is SEFA’s second solo show of Lee’s work, following a successful one-person exhibition at New York’s Prince George Gallery that Eley curated in 2007. LIQUID SOUL presents some 20 paintings completed in the past two years, which include an extensive portrait series of Abraham Lincoln, several Buddhas and a rich array of abstract work, all rendered in Lee’s signature mix of resin, oil paint and pigment. Lee’s paintings are comprised of up to a dozen layers of this unique combination of materials. Like living creatures preserved in amber, the artist’s vibrant colors pop from beneath a gem-like, glossy layer of resin. This stunning finish supports the philosophy he wishes to convey.

Lee’s approach to image-making negotiates a balance between the spiritual and physical worlds. Drawing inspiration from Buddhist concepts and other cultural and spiritual traditions of his native Korea, Lee believes that the best life is in equilibrium. If one can achieve balance, one can achieve peace. Lee’s paintings are physical representations of his ideal way of life.

The impetus behind his current work is a concept called Spacewomb. Lee’s recent work proposes a womb-like mindset: protected, peaceful and free from strife and confrontation. The all-over quality of Lee’s Spacewomb paintings represent a return to liquid beginnings; like the earth, the human body is 73% water. The dynamic surfaces of Lee’s paintings imitate the flux of life and create a tension between movement and stasis, life and half-life, peace and alienation.

Lee works in both abstract and representational styles. Informed by Cubism, Lee’s portraits are not always as we expect. An eye floats or a foot protrudes—a breaking down of the physical to understand the metaphysical, a fluid quest for balance.
The subjects of much of his recent work are iconic, historical figures who have become
his personal heroes—Abraham Lincoln, Jesus, Buddha. Though his devotion is largely secular, Lee admires these religious and historical figures for their sacrifices and their commitment to peace and balance. His figural works often blend binaries: male becomes female, east and west converge.

Much of Lee’s artwork is influenced by his experience as a Korean immigrant to the United States. The Spacewomb circumvents questions of race, language and membership. It is universalizing; we were all new once. “My art is a-political,” Lee explains, “I wish to show the alternative [to politics], to present the Spacewomb, a place where there is peace.”

About the Artist
Jongwang Lee was born in Seoul, Korea in 1960. He attended Sunhwa Art High School and received a BFA in Sumi-e painting and drawing from HongIk, University, Seoul, and an MFA from the National University of Tokyo Arts and Sciences, Japan.

Lee has been featured in group and solo shows throughout museums and galleries in Japan and Korea, including the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum and the Kawasaki City Museum. Since moving to New York in 1999, he has exhibited at the Sonoma Museum of Visual Arts, CA, the Hammond Museum, NY, the Korean Embassy, Washington, DC, the Japan American Art Association at the Tenri Gallery, NY, the International Art Festival Lantern of the East, Los Angeles, CA, and more...

view more works from the exhibition

For information contact: Susan Eley: 917.952.7641
susie@susaneley.com | www.susaneley.com