Leeahn gallery is pleased to announce Antifragile, Kwangho Lee’s solo exhibition that will be on view at the Daegu location. The exhibition displays how the artist, who is a pioneer in terms of his materials and techniques, reevaluates a range of industrial materials such as plastic, Styrofoam, PVC and metal, and expresses them in a whole new context.

 

This exhibition will be Lee’s second solo exhibition after the first one in Seoul last year, making this his first in Daegu. While the artist gained recognition in Composition in Blue (2020) for the series of metal installations using red copper and cloisonné, in this exhibition, he introduces pieces using his unique knitting technique, along with his previous metal works.

 

Lee’s labor-intensive production process that is performed via only hands originates from his family background. As a child living in the countryside with his farmer grandparents, he learned how everyday objects can be instrumentalized into artistic tools, not to mention that his knitting technique was also influenced by his mother’s stitchery. Lee constantly contemplates imagination and harmony with space through the act of physically tying the knot between the beginning and the end, embodying the final form. Moreover, his works usually develop from a drawing but exceptions do exist, with all processes being organic and delicate.

 

Antifragile, the exhibition title, is a term invented by Nassim Nicholas Taleb that refers to a category of things that not only gain from chaos but need it in order to survive and flourish. He first introduced the said term as an antidote to Black Swan Effect, suggesting that we actively utilize randomness, variability and chaos rather than avoid them. Especially considering the pandemic that we are currently living in, the fact that progress - not any form of deterioration - has been made aligned with Lee’s beliefs. Likewise, the artist stated that he felt as if he was receiving infinite support from repetitive work, by means of the thought that uncertainty can be actually replaced by the sympathy of a happy disordered classification. Furthermore, Lee continues his work with the hope that the audience can naturally exist within the artworks and genuinely understand them, instead of the artwork speaking for itself.

 

All exhibited works comprehensively represent the concept of antifragile, further carried out with the artists’ imagination. Various forms of artworks are freely scattered throughout second floor, as if Lee’s bizarre imagination has been let loose within the exhibition space. This enables the audience to interpret the artworks in diverse ways amongst themselves. In comparison to the works with concrete shape on second floor, those displayed in the basement brings Lee’s flexible thoughts to life. Despite the fact that works on display are made of artist’s favored materials, they are the outcome of his new approach to understanding the space surrounding the artworks; they reflect Lee’s intention of perpetual transformation and advancement, along with the well-known Obsession Series.

 

Lee majored in metal molding design at Hongik University, and has been bestowed multiple awards both domestically and internationally. He has also collaborated with numerous global companies such as Fendi. In addition, his works are held in major collections at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, M+ Museum in Hong Kong, Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, and Daegu Museum.

 

This exhibition will allow the audience to explore Lee’s broad spectrum of artworks, as his countless nicknames including designer, sculptor and installation artist suggest.