Solo Exhibitions (Brief)

The artist started with his solo exhibition 《NU-TYPE》 (Makeshop Art Space, Paju, Korea) held in 2014, followed by 《NU-FRAME》(Doosan Gallery, Seoul, Korea) in 2015 and 《NU》 (Doosan Gallery, New York, USA) in 2016. presented a work that explores a new form of painting.

Since then, through 《Inside of Light》 (2019, UARTSPACE, Seoul, Korea) and 《Nu Collection》 (2021, UARTSPACE, Seoul, Korea), he has been experimenting with the combination of various materials and forms, expanding the realm of his art.

Group Exhibitions (Brief)

Participated in group exhibitions held at Art Delight (Seoul, Korea), Chaos Lounge Atelier (Tokyo, Japan), Taste house (Seoul, Korea), LEE EUGEAN Gallery (Seoul, Korea), Ligak museum of art (Chonan, Korea), Space K (Daegu, Korea), Sejong Center for the Performing Arts (Seoul, Korea), Makeshop Art Space (Paju, Korea), Alternative space TEAM PREVIEW (Seoul, Korea).

Awards (Selected)

In 2013, he won the Seoul Digital University Art Award, and in 2014, he received the Doosan Artist Award hosted by the Doosan Yonkang Foundation

Originality & Identity

Lee Yunsung creates illustrations by combining the myths and narratives of Western culture with Eastern subcultures such as animation, manga, and games. The creative method of using Western mythology and narratives as motifs is a conventional method in art history. Also, the active acceptance of Japanese pop culture called manga/ anime is a common feature of Korean contemporary art artists in their 30s and 40s.

In the context of modern art, using references is frequently applied. Lee Yunsung freely connects and deconstructs elements that are considered to be contradictory and heterogeneous, such as the past and the era, West and East, high-end and low-quality, and constant and variable. In this sense, he creates a unique art world by building a semantic network.

Lee Yunsung repeatedly uses characters as icons from Greek and Roman mythology or epics like Danae, Helios, Psyche, and Mara, such as the goddess Venus of “The Last Judgement”. In particular, masterpieces such as the Statue of Venus, The Last Judgment, Laokon, and Annunciation are also included. It confirms the artist’s attention to the power and history of images based on myths and classics.

Here, the artist changes the gender of the chosen subject from male to female or transforms this character into a beautiful female in a manga to actively express various emotions and desires. It suggests a singularity in that he boldly grafts and reinterprets the visual environment of Japanese manga he encountered while expanding the subculture’s influence.

“I feel that the form of production and the method of expression are important. Not the story or message of the work only.”

Lee Yunsung’s artwork is often regarded as a hybrid image by critics. The understanding of his work is deepened when we consider the ‘frame of artwork’ together not just the content levels or reinterpretation of the image. Given the title of his early solo exhibition 《Nu TYPE》 and 《Nu FRAME》, the ‘title’ is a critical issue for him.

As seen in the ‘Zodiac’ series, Lee Yunsung breaks away from the rectangular frame of the universal canvas and transforms the canvas into polygons like ‘Khan’ that divides scenes in cartoons, recombines them, and installs them. On the other hand, as in the ‘Danae’ series, the canvas frame is divided within the surface of the painting to illuminate the person and his world.

Hence, a space (or frame) setting belongs to the painting surface as a finished plane. However, conversely, it makes the visual and conceptual boundaries in the painting fluid. It creates a complex composition called ‘Nu Frame; a new painting style.

Style & Contents

Lee Yunsung’s paintings instantly capture the audience’s attention with a background of glorious colours and patterns, such as a nude girl character with cute and delightful expression in a symbolization (moeka[萌え化]).

Here, the destroyed and damaged body like the ‘Torso’ series, the characters’ expressions are focused on various facial expressions and distorted bodies like the ‘Danae’ series. The visual elements recombined with the cultural symbol of Moehwa, make a strong impression on the audience.

The artist intends to update the classic contemporary subculture behind this instant feature. Especially, the artist pursues formative beauty like the composition and proportions contained in classic Western artwork.

The artist applies the form of a comic book with a distinctly divided screen, black outline, and flat shape. Also, he creates oil paintings with vivid brush marks. By doing so, he raises the subculture and sense of contemporary artwork and explores new areas.

Lee Yunsung’s various works from previous exhibitions were collectively shown in one spot in his solo exhibitions in 2019 and 2021.

A new type of artwork for the artist’s future footsteps is shown. In these exhibitions, there are sculptures made of a figure’s pupils and part of a decorative image like mobile cubes, pixel paintings expressing the object in pixels, illustrations, and 3D printed sculptures depicting Medusa in Greek and Roman Mythology. NFT works are produced as GIF files < Head of Medusa #1, #2, #3 >. Here, you can check the variations added to the composition of the artist’s remarkable works.

Topography & Continuity

It is an already familiar developmental attempt to present a new perspective through the subculture that one enjoys without limiting the art to the classic upper art. The emergence of a group of young domestic and foreign artists actively embraces the impact of various skills and cultures from upper and lower classes and connects them with their artworks. It has been a prominent phenomenon since the 2000s.

It is linked with the activities of pop artists who received attention in Korean art during the same period. In the contest of this era, Lee Yunsung connects cartoon icons with abstract painting expressions. It combines the visual signifiers of subcultures with aesthetic works of Western classics to create successful works, different from simple parody.

Lee Yunsung received the grand prize at the 1st Seoul Digital University Art Awards in 2013 and got attention from other young artists at a solo exhibition held the following year.

Various attempts are being made through digital media to change the concept of art creation, enjoyment, and consumption by Covid-19. Artist Lee Yunsung also enlarges his impact with his creative and unbiased artworks.

Going beyond the change from flat to sculptural, the artist continues his vigorous activity by attempting a shift from reality to virtual, such as digital 3D works, sculptures, and NFT-based digital artworks presented in a recent exhibition.