Jaemin Lee
The masks we make ourselves.
Masks are both to identify and conceal the identity of the wearer, but the making of a mask is inherently an exploration of the maker, a kind of self portrait. Jaemin Lee has created masks that act as homes, beautiful and terrifying birdhouses that are in touch with an ecosystem overbalanced. For him, family and home are important anchors, even when concerning himself with ecological change. The act of making a mask plumbs the very depths of a skilled artisan, both technically, and emotionally. Through the process of crafting a new face, one must let go of the ties that bind to us to the old, recognisable one, and for the moment of making we do away with the gift our parents gave us, and birth ourselves anew. Jaemin Lee has created a series of birdhouses that present the world with a fearsome mask, a warning to those who can recognise those faces, that simultaneously give shelter to those whose own homes humanity may destroy.
Painting the Portrait.
While Jaemin Lee views himself as characteristically restrained in his external existence, educated in a traditional family, holding deep values, he allows himself to exhibit refinement by way of his artwork. Despite this, his artworks are provocative, and encourage deep reflection. The recent series of large format paintings in the series Mirror, Mirror2020, exude a luxurious richness that catches around the eyes and the lips of a barbie-doll face, a blade of brightness that cuts out from the corners of those mouths. Though the illumination is not only light, but dark also. Melancholy pours from some of these portraits of Barbie, like a song of a stream though the roots of old trees, in the dark forest. Jaemin Lee views poetic sorrow as a cornerstone of his creative ability. Yet there is even beauty in destruction, in the depths of the ruined faces, taken from our childhood games with childish toys, and blown up huge, each soft lie about beauty and conformity and adulthood unravelling in the long loops that make up the structure of the work. Jaemin Lee brings drama and beauty by painting these portraits into a lamentation, exhibited with the title Where is my Ken?
Text by Jonathan Ferguson
Jaemin Lee in his studio.
Melancholy helps to be creatively and artistically active.
Biography Jaemin Lee
born 1987 in Korea
Education
2013-2020 Fine Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich, Germany / Painting and Graphics, Class Prof. Gregor Hildebrandt
Master Scholar («Meisterschüler») of Prof. Gregor Hildebrandt
2007-2014 Visual communication design at the Gachon University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Exhibitions (selection)
2023
Eros’ Autism at Galerie Ruetz, Munich, Germany
2021
Supermarkt Frische Lieferung, Group Show, Rewe Premium Munich, Germany
2020
Where is my Ken?, Showcases of the Lost Weekend Galerie, Munich, Germany (SOLO)
Under Water, Into the clouds, Munich, Germany
Der River, Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei, Leipzig, Germany
Tal, Graduation exhibition at Academy of Fine Arts Munich, Germany
2018
We swim in the same water, Pasinger Fabrik, Munich, Germany
Zechbau group exhibition, Munich, Germany
2016
Förderpreis 2016 Bodenseekreis: Desire, Meersburg, Germany
Sur Face, Showcases of the Lost Weekend Galerie, Munich, Germany (SOLO)
Figurative Painting, Heise Kunst Preis 2016, Dessau, Germany
The reality ends here, Nachtspeicher23, Hamburg, Germany
2015
Silkscreen, Boconcept, Munich, Germany
Art Olympia Competition 2015, Tokyo, Japan
Klasse Förg / Dornfeld, Gallery Jahn, Munich, Germany
Prizes & Scholarships
2020-2023 Studio Grant Program of the City of Munich (Atelierförderprogramm der Landeshauptstadt München)
2021/2022 Bavarian Studio Grant Program (Bayerisches Atelierförderprogramm)
2020 Diploma Award of the Erwin und Gisela von Steiner-Stiftung
2019 Scholarship for foreign students by the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich
Works by Jaemin Lee
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FORSYTHE WORK I
2020 / Watercolor on paper / 100 x 70 cm / 39.4 x 27.6 in
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FORSYTHE WORK III
2020 / Watercolor on paper / 100 x 70 cm / 39.4 x 27.6 in
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Die größten Enttäuschungen haben ihren Ursprung in zu großen Erwartungen_Relish (The biggest disappointments have their origin in too great expectations, from the series 'My America')
2019 / Oil on canvas / 212 x 103 cm / 83.5 x 40.6 in (framed)
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Die größten Enttäuschungen haben ihren Ursprung in zu großen Erwartungen_Doughnut (The biggest disappointments have their origin in too great expectations, from the series 'My America')
2019 / Oil on canvas / 132 x 122 cm / 52.0 x 48.0 in (framed)
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Where is my Ken? III
2020 / Watercolor on paper / 150 x 106 cm / 59.1 x 41.7 in
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Where is my Ken? II
2020 / Watercolor on paper / 150 x 106 cm / 59.1 x 41.7 in
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Sadae Chunwang II (TAL series)
2019 / Acrylic, wood, varnish / 35 x 44 x 20 cm / 13.8 x 17.3 x 7.9 in
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Piep Piep I (TAL series)
2019 / Acrylic, wood, varnish / 30 x 16 x 17 cm / 11.8 x 6.3 x 6.7 in
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Gae (TAL series)
2019 / Acrylic, wood, ceramic, hair, metal, feather, varnish / 45 x 16 x 15 cm / 17.7 x 6.3 x 5.9 in
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Sadae Chunwang I (TAL series)
2019 / Acrylic, wood, metal, crystal beads, varnish / 30 x 19 x 21 cm / 11.8 x 7.5 x 8.3 in
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Die größten Enttäuschungen haben ihren Ursprung in zu großen Erwartungen_Doughnut II (The biggest disappointments have their origin in too great expectations, from the series 'My America')
2019 / Oil on canvas / 207 x 195 cm / 81.5 x 76.8 in (framed)
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sold
Die größten Enttäuschungen haben ihren Ursprung in zu großen Erwartungen_Popcorn (The biggest disappointments have their origin in too great expectations, from the series 'My America')
2019 / Oil on canvas / 200 x 128.5 cm / 78.7 x 50.6 in (framed)
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Where is my Ken? VI
2020 / Watercolor on paper, mounted on wooden frame / 150 x 106 cm / 59.1 x 41.7 in
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Where is my Ken? V
2020 / Watercolor on paper, mounted on wooden frame / 150 x 106 cm / 59.1 x 41.7 in