Young-Sik Lee
He has been living in Germany since 1990, where his mother taught as a guest lecturer for East Asian literature at the University of Leipzig. He studied at the Freie Academie for Kunst in Painting & project studies in Berlin, Germany. He forwards studied at the Berlin Technical University for Communication Design and Visual & Motion Design with Professor Hans Grimmling. For his artistic precision and deepening, he received private lessons for Fine Arts with Professor Arno Rink, rector at the famous art University Leipzig and with university lecturer Herbert Vicenz for artistic anatomy and nature studies for several years.
He has numerous solo and group exhibitions in Berlin, Leipzig, Cologne, Hamburg, Schwerin in Germany. He was invited to numerous international Art Fair Carrousel du Louvre in Paris ,Art Innsbruck in Austria, Parallax Art Fair in Chelsea- London, Parallax Art Fair in Kensington- London and Gallery O Maribo- Copenhagen Denmark, etc.
In 2019, he was invited by the Ministry of Culture Cuba a solo and group exhibition for 500th Anniversary in Havana, Cuba, as a German delegation and his printing works were in Havana exhibited.
Collector of his painting works: Humboldt University Klein gallery in Berlin- Germany, and private Collectors in Madrid and Berlin.
He has also been invited to several international Art Fair in 2020 and 2021. His works are already on the way, e.g. for MAMAC Modern Art Museum exhibition in Austria, International Contemporary Art Fair Carrousel du LOUVRE in Paris, PAKs Gallery Representation as Gallery Artist in Vienna, and Clio Art Fair 2021 in Manhattan in New York, U.S.A. for Cannes Biennale 2022 in France, Biennale Basel 2022 in Swiss.
LEE, Young-Sik born in Seoul, South Korea, has been studying, living and working as a freelance artist in Berlin since 2002. Under the title “Metaphor”, LEE mainly shows large-format works with colorful, emblematic animal-human scenes that can be described as a sequence or variation of a single motif. In addition to the question of the metaphorical powers of images, the question can also be asked whether images as a whole can be a metaphor. The word "metaphor" comes from the Greek and means "transference". In modern art, the term stands for the symbolic use of parable pictures or as a synonym for allegory.
It is always images from different worlds that are assembled by LEE. Influenced by China's culture as the oldest culture in Asia, he uses detailed representation in combination with play of colors in his work to perfection. He attaches the greatest importance to conveying a certain mood that casts a spell over the viewer.
Animals are deprived of their natural environment like the crocodile that emerges from the dark. His scaly armor shimmers brightly like mother-of-pearl in the light, his snout is wide open and in front of him is a dead bird. A closer look reveals a bizarre detail: on the floor there is a tote bag, a cultural asset of our time. Crocodiles live in symbiosis with birds, they are also the closest recent relatives of the dinosaurs. The picture is titled "Narcissus and Farewell". The meaning of this title is immediately apparent and is not in need of any further explanation. What remains is horror, LEE calls it: "The aesthetics of horror".
The large-format work “Interview with animal” shows a young woman with a recording device and a microphone, which she is holding out to a tiger who is just stepping out of a small door. The tiger was one of the most popular motifs in Korean folk painting and still has an important cultural meaning because it is associated with the Korean people. The tiger appears in numerous Korean fairy tales and legends. Sometimes it is frightening, sometimes it brings luck and symbolizes courage. The tiger in LEE's picture is not a wild beast, he is a domesticated animal and looks just as harmless and innocent as the young woman. The woman and the tiger are in a small room with pink walls and a wooden floor and could also be a room in an old Berlin apartment. The tiger seems to be at home here. The protagonists move but remain silent and in the moment.
“When I start painting, the invisible becomes visible. Figures change, I relish the metamorphosis that comes with inspiration. Painting by LEE, Young-Sik - irritating and at the same time formally arranged – is animated by the tension between objective appearance and abstract marks generated coincidentally by the painting process. LEE breaks down the lines between human and animal behavior. The atmosphere of the images and, upon closer inspection, the metaphorical references also reveal subliminal levels of meaning. His painting reflects today's times and the way "in which we submit to the world". -Christine Balbach, curator, art projector, Germany.
