Second Solo Sculpture Show in the United States by Jaehyo Lee at Cynthia Reeves

Jaehyo Lee, “bamboo #1 & #2”, 2006, bamboo, 78”x 78”x35”. Photo: Courtesy Cynthia Reeves.

NEW YORK, NY.- Jaehyo Lee opens his second solo sculpture show in the United States at Cynthia Reeves on February 20th, 2010 with an opening reception between 6-8 p.m., open to the public. The exhibition continues through March 27th.

Jaehyo Lee works in natural materials and steel, as his primary media. His most spectacular works incorporate highly burnished, bent steel nails that form complex, articulated patterns against the velvet black of charred wood. This astoundingly difficult process results in works of a sinuous, elegant line and intricate detail--some of which are wall-based and some of which are objects intended for use as functional art. He continues this inquiry in his wood sculptures: wooden spheres and conical pillars that are often monumental in scale.

Of the artist's work, Jonathan Goodman wrote in Sculpture Magazine: Allowing the materials to speak to him, he builds self-contained worlds that mysteriously communicate with their outer surroundings…Texture is deeply important to Lee, who emphasizes the façade of the wood, crosscut and planed to reveal the character of the grain. The surface thus reveals the character of its making, becoming indicative of the creative process and holding interest by itself. (Sculpture Magazine, "The Possibilities of Nature", May, 2009.

Lee graduated from Hong-Ik University in 1992, and is the prizewinner of the Hankook Ilbo Young Artists Award in 1997, the Osaka Triennial Award in 1998, the Kim Sae-Jung Award in 2000, the Sculpture in Woodland Award in 2002, and the Japan Hyogo International Competition Ward in 2004. His work is included in the permanent collections of the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea; Hyogo Prefecture Museum of Art, Japan; Busan Metropolitan Art Museum, South Korea; and the Osaka Contemporary Art Center, Japan. Most recently, his work was included in the Museum of Art and Design's inauguration exhibition, Second Lives, in their new space at Columbus Circle.