Mike Lee: Homecoming

“Lee’s canvas is filled with anonymous figures. In his earlier works, the artist focused on capturing the instant moment of the figure’s movement or certain emotion, intentionally excluding the story behind. Thereafter, he has gradually brought context to his works over the past three to four years, and his recent works primarily focus on contextualizing his subjects. Most of his works have faceless figures floating in the imagined space. These figures - though existing together within the same space - ironically conjure the feeling of solitude. At times, even the works without the figures give the peculiar feeling as if someone has just left the space. This surreal combination of existence and absence is unique to Lee’s paintings, and it arouses special emotions. An interesting point of viewing ‘Mike Lee: Homecoming’ would be to relate this paradoxical duality to the artist’s own narrative.”

- Wonseok Koh, Former senior curator at Seoul Museum of Art -

"마이크 리의 작업에는 알 수 없는 인물들이 등장한다. 초기 작업에서 그는 배경을 생략하고 인물 자체의 일시적 동작이나 순간적 정서를 묘사했다. 이후 최근 3~4년에 걸쳐 점진적으로 배경과 상황이 부여되었고, 근작에서는 그러한 상황과 결합된 주인공의 묘사가 주된 구성방식으로 자리잡았다. 대부분의 작업에는 얼굴이 생략된 인물들이 초현실적 배경을 표류하듯 존재한다. 이 익명의 인물들은 같이 있어도 서로 다른 곳에 존재하는 것 같은 고독의 정서로 점철되어 있다. 간혹 인물이 등장하지 않는 작품 마저 마치 직전까지 존재했던 누군가가 막 자리를 뜬 순간을 보는 것 같은 기묘한 부재감이 자리한다. 존재와 부재가 뒤섞여있는 이 몽환적 분위기는 마이크 리의 회화가 견지하고 있는 특별한 정서다. 그 역설적 이중성을 작가의 개인 서사와 연결시켜 생각해보는 것은 이번 전시를 관람하는 데에 있어 긴요하면서도 흥미로운 포인트일 것이다."

-고원석 서울시립미술관 前 전시과장-