Critics
In search of memories ‘Internal Landscape’
Art Critic Hong Kyoung Han
1. The scenes depicted in Lee Jae-Hyun’s pictorial spaces are not entirely true. They rather serve as a mutual intermediary between the subject and others. People as well as personified animals and objects within the frame make themselves more true to itself. They are the key element that contributes to the deterritorialization of reality.
Most of all, the bold colors used in Jae-Hyun’s work draw the eye first. These colors, however, evoke a mix of happiness and sadness, success and failure and an unsettling feeling. There is a distance between the colors perceived by the retina and those identified instinctively. Between this lies the childhood memories of growing up in a slum neighborhood and the consciousness of existence that encompasses the reality of being an adult today.
Created using the impasto technique, the artist’s paintings are filled with loose lines and rough, distorted shapes. His work exudes loneliness and heaviness and crosses over the boundaries between abstraction and figurative art. They are completed with non-material memories of the past yet material visual images as well as the relationship between the inner and exterior aspects. Although colors primarily determine the tone, lines and shapes harmoniously illustrate the clash of the flow of confinement and the will of restraint.
For instance, the series People Waiting (2021~) which includes Life Has Meaning (2021~) and Goodbye My Love (2021~) along with The Grey (2021) are all based on memories and modern daily life with a dose of imagination. Figures in his paintings are intricately intertwined with actions, time, space, objects and life and this complexity constructs a narrative through dialogues and monologues with others or others within themselves. This is even more noticeable in his work such as People in the Rain (2023) and On the Borderline (2022~).
The scenes portraying bathing, conversing or seemingly enjoyable parties along with individuals striving towards their own sense of success demonstrate how a part becomes the whole and how closely the space and each work are connected. The seemingly cynical and indifferent human figures and the objects cohabit, coexist and are tightly woven, and thus evoke a profound curiosity about the narrative.
Life Goes On (2023), in particular, explores the borders between rain and people, adults and children, reality and imagination, which finds an organic breath of restrained rules and freedom, deliberation and randomness, reason and emotion. The Life Has Meaning series exemplifies this characteristic: previously dormant fragments of memories evolve into deep narratives to be told.
2. From 2002 to his recent works in 2023, many of Jae-Hyun’s works are intrinsically close to the ‘replication of meaning’ of life. Deeply entwined in his art, self-introspection on the course of life can be read as a meaningful point different from the visible traces of the past.
The colors and shapes on the artist’s canvas may not make it obvious, but Jae-Hyun puts more emphasis on self-awareness through conceptual narrative, which is built on the underlying premise that humans exist within the world whether it’s indoors or outdoors. From the past to the present, his paintings are an extension of his life trajectory as an artist and hence question its existence, explore the meaning of existence as molded by others while touching on issues of resilience and determination in reality.
Stuffed dolls ‘Betty’, ‘Hannah’ and ‘Thomas’ frequently appear in his work including Peace (2021), Life in the Can (2021), CSI (2022) and The Painter’s Still Life (2023) and they are good examples. These were a gift from the artist’s father who used to work in the Middle East when the former was a child.
These stuffed dolls are depicted as a single objet d’art held in someone’s hand and often appear somewhere within the frame. The scene in which the artist grabs the worn-out and patched doll illustrates how much the artist treasured it. He probably didn’t realize it at the time, but the period of time when he spent with the dolls as his friends seem to have had an impact on him to question existence. Aside from the stuffed dolls, other objects such as his father’s pigskin briefcase and the bathtub appear frequently in Jae-Hyun’s work in the same context.
To artist Lee Jae-Hyun, art serves as a tool to summon memories as well as a diary about the present existence Dasein. It mirrors the present day. Such traces are found throughout his work such as a guy mowing the grass at an empty golf course, a man carrying a briefcase and an animal in both hands while standing in the bathtub, people waiting for something or someone and a couple who look to be a happy family (House on the Hill, 2023).
These works are pictorial explorations captured and painted on canvases that record parts of everyday life like a picture diary. The artist Jae-Hyun verifies his presence as ‘being there (Da-sein)’. Through the medium of animals, objects and others, he contemplates and questions his being there. This demonstrates the close association of Jae-Hyun’s artworks to the present existence. Daily events and memories in the course of life are a noun embracing real existence that encompasses existence and being.
There may be no distinction between existence and true existence to the artist. This may not be the case for what has settled within. As shown in his works such as Sea (2021) which depicts a man and a woman standing on a sailing boat floating in the open sea and the series of Life Has Meaning as well as People Waiting, each landscape and individual scene provide a glimpse of the ‘internal landscape’ of being there and here.
As the present existence, the artist encapsulates in his art ,the exact moments and conditions from his life and his formative sprouts between its reveal and concealment This potential rhythm of revelation and concealment complement one another and take root in his work, therefore shaping a unique quality of Jae-Hyun’s art work- concentrated essence of ‘waves of life’.
3. Art is both a tool for dispersing life’s waves and a treasure trove with existential meaning. His most recent series of paintings appear to rely on the natural flow of life, yet they are in fact closer to positive acceptance in order to overcome uncertainty and helplessness. Jae-Hyun’s works in this regard reflect what he has felt and experienced with his body and mind. They can be translated as the consequence of joys and sorrows, frustrations and pains, pathos and rejoice he has encountered which are then filtered through an aesthetic sieve.
The foundation of his formatives is derived from deeply rooted highs and lows of human emotions, whereas various shapes, rough texture, loose lines and liberated colors found on his canvas serve as a means to lead the artist’s narrative, connect to the present and timely create a new pictorial grammar. (In the same sense, the metal frame which Jae-Hyun welded and painted himself is also a part of his work.)
This development became more prominent as the artist moved from architecture and sculpture to painting. Often times those are absolutely fantastic; the paintings can be fantastic but there is no pure fantasy in here. Instead, the paintings rationally describe the reality’s inadequacy and fulfillment. It is difficult to exclude the innate desire to escape a series of situation and the coordinates toward happiness and freedom should also be counted.
As it is evident in some grey-toned works such as Oooops’s life (2021) and Life Goes On (2021~), I see the Jae-Hyun’s past and beyond in his latest work. I can understand that various objects in his paintings are a tool to recall memories of the past; human figures and animals are a means to connect nostalgic memories of slum neighborhood in Sanggye-dong to the present amicable life; each element is a view outside the window.
The identity of ‘self’(Na) is manifested as the vanishing point. This identity is clearly reflected in his works of art. Jae-Hyun’s entire creative process and end result embody ‘self’ and communicate aesthetic consciousness and expression. The term ‘Self’ is inherently associated with genuine existence. The solitude and loneliness in his pictorial figures break away from the ‘self’ as true existence. As a result, in his work, we must pay greater attention to what exists behind the formality, in other words, a vivid real sense of existence that allows one to be more true to oneself.
The symbolism of artist Jae-Hyun gives a new definition to emotional perception. It resonates with logical sentences backed by rationality. They are close to the everyday life of the artist and, as a result, his work is close to beautifully rendered techniques and essays of experiential relationships. And the conclusion is manifested as ‘memory-existence-image’.
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The Color of Memories
Review of the exhibition 'The Grey' - art critic Hyejeong Bae
If memories had colors, what color would it be? Probably grey. When colorful and vivid moments turn into memories, the details are lost, blurred and faded. So the color grey would be the most likely answer. As the name of the exhibition, 'The Grey', suggest, Lee Jaehyun’s past memories are portrayed as grey in his recent paintings. Just like Lee’s memories, our countless memories often turn grey over time as we put aside mental images of the mixed emotions and thoughts of our memories in one corner of our brain. Our impressions of people and objects as well as thoughts and feelings of special moments are deeply ingrained in our memories. All memories gradually fade over time, but they do not completely disappear. As we go about life, the scent of a person who passes by us in the street or the strangely familiar sight of a narrow alley that we accidentally stumble upon creates sudden pang of nostalgia, evoking the memories of the moments of joy or frustration stashed in the closet of our mind.
Lee skillfully shares his personal stories with the audience through a series of depictions of captivating objects and human figures that somehow resemble each of us. The big, lopsided eyes, pointy, funny-looking nose and tiny mouth of his unique characters seem downright hilarious, but somehow remind us of ourselves. This sense of resemblance serves as a powerful tool triggering empathy. Let’s take a closer look at the characters in solitude in Lee’s paintings.
In 'Twenty', the artist painted a 20-year-old man wearing boxing gloves whose face is covered with bruises, which brings back our memories of young adulthood. When you turn 20, you are legally adult and old enough to enjoy a certain level of freedom, breaking free from the shackles of the strict social system, but still too young to completely stand on your own feet in this harsh, cold world. Lee’s portrayed of his life at the age of 20 is riddled with pains and sufferings, but his legs firmly standing on the ground suggests that a winner is yet to be determined. In 'Sister’s cotton candy', a woman with hollow and sunken eyes is smoking a cigarette with a briefcase placed right next to her. Comfort and solace are what she seems to be looking for at the moment. She looks utterly exhausted now, but she would regain her energy and go back to work tomorrow. The memories and emotions evoked by solo characters in 'On the borderline' are more complex and intricate. The man and the woman are standing straight in a small bathtub. Both of them are fully clothed as if they completely forgot to undress. Their eyes seem empty and blank. It is interesting that they are holding a bag in their hand. The woman character in 'On the borderline' even has a toy in the other hand. Maybe they are at the crossroads and hastily jumped into the bathtub because they wanted to shock themselves into being fully awake before making some life-altering decisions. The word, “borderline”, in the title reminds ourselves that many of life’s decisions are challenging. These fascinating pieces of Lee’s work are based on his childhood memories where he used to jump in the water with clothes on. Lee metaphorically compares the feelings of loneliness and fear he had as a child while playing alone to the feelings of isolation and distress he experienced as an adult while trying hard to go about his life.
'The Painter’s self-portrait' vividly illustrates dramatic moments in life, especially the moments of frustration and despair such as falling off a cliff. A rope tied to a ceiling is wrapped around the neck of the person standing on unidentifiable objects stacked in multiple layers above the table. His life is at stake as he would be strangled to death once he loses his footing on top of the small and fragile objects which seem precariously placed on top of one another. Lee’s gloomy self-portrait creates a deep sense of frustration, sorrow, responsibility, despair and death – all of which are elements that constitute our life.
Though ingenious portrayals of life’s various aspects, the artist sends a message of empathy and consolation to the audience. For example, he sheds light on the relationships among people in 'Wind, People, See'. Man is by nature a social animal, and no one can live alone. People are defined by their relationships with others and they continuously negotiate goals in their relationships. At the same time, they are a lone wolf, trying to live their own life. In the painting, there’s a big unbridgeable rift between the two individuals. The female character wearing a headphone in sitting on a step of stairs with her back towards the male character. What’s notable here is that the wind is blowing in one direction and both of them are staring in the same direction, which metaphorically describes that they are in the same boat. All of us are different, so maybe we will never truly understand what someone else is going through. But the fact that we are in the same boat, withstanding the headwind together and heading towards the same direction is what consoles us in our relationships with others.
In 'My life goes on' and 'Life goes on', the artist delves into the life that goes on with other people and objects within one’s boundaries or “borderlines”. They are families, friends and lovers who make our life complicated but those who protect us and help us maintain who we are. This is how our life goes on. In this context, 'The Painter’s self-portrait' seems to capture the moment of supporting one another rather than the moment of falling apart. In 'People waiting', Lee focuses on the feeling of empathy and compassion not only for those within our inner circle but also for random people outside it. People are waiting at the bus stop every morning and night for different reasons. They have no idea what kind of life others are living, how others are feeling right now, whether others had a long day today or if their daughter is giving them a headache. What’s important is that they are in the same place, sharing the same moment. This shows how each of us goes about our life as individuals and comes together as crowds. Sometimes, people get together to share pains of fight against the world. The artist says that he was able to heal his mind while creating his paintings, reminiscing of the memories of his past. Just like Lee’s paintings did the trick of himself, they may comfort and heal your mind as if you are looking at old pictures that bring back memories of the past.