Lee Jin woo

impermanence of all things

online group EXHIBITION

February.24 - JUNE.26.2022

Lee Jin Woo's works invite silence, calm and contemplation. Under their refined forms and colors, they invite the gaze to move between empty and solid spaces: between the surface and the depth of the layers, between the thickness and the transparency of the materials, between the delicacy of the paper and the coarseness of coal, and between the visible and the concealment.

Lee’s works are part of the heritage from Dansaekwha artistic movement that emerged in South Korea in the 1970’s and characterised by monochrome, utilising materials and meditative aesthetics. Behind its apparent simplicity, it requires a long, methodical and repetitive creation process. His works are composed of sheets of Hanji paper covered with charcoal and pigments, superimposed on top of each other. The charcoal is more or less crushed, and is sometimes rubbed, sometimes compiled, creating a thick layer of material and texture. The result is a work between painting and sculpture, similar to a natural rocky or volcanic landscape.

“Once I am painting, I become an arm that paints.
My hand is the extension of my brain and I stop thinking.”

- Lee Jin Woo from HdM Gallery

Lee Jin Woo represents material and its transformations, as well as the circular movement of life: if charcoal comes from the degradation of vegetable materials, it is also a source of combustible energy as well as a fertile material that participates in giving birth and growing life.