DONGI LEE
Dongi Lee was born in Seoul in 1967 and achieved MFA from Western painting department of the Hongik University, College of Fine Arts. Lee started with the first solo exhibition at Gallery ON in South Korea, which initially introduced his remarkable character “Atomaus” in 1993, and consecutively had the first solo exhibition in Tokyo in 2002. Furthermore, his one-man show was held in Beijing in 2007, and in Amsterdam and Berlin in 2008. In September 2020 Lee held a large-scale solo exhibition at NYB Gallery in Kirkland, Washington, USA. He was evaluated as a first-generation pop artist in South Korea, and his representative works were named as “Bubbles”, “Flower Garden”, and “Virtual Insanity”. Such works are being collected by many museums in South Korea and in China and in Taiwan at the head of Leeum in Seoul.
Lee has established the original genre within socially participatory pop art that crosses the boundary between high and low culture by borrowing and blending various elements from advertising, internet, classics, modernismpainting, and abstract art.
While Lee frequently uses flat colors and graphical images in the trendy theme between mass media and pop culture, his works always include complex elements that make up society. He captures the ever-changing aspects of the times and expresses them with pop taste in an exquisite balance.
WORKS
BIOGRAPHY
1967 Born in Seoul 1990 B.F.A., Painting, Hongik University 1995 M.F.A., Painting, Hongik University
PAST EXHIBITIONS
1993 First Solo Exhibition at Gallery On in Seoul, Korea 2001 The Adventures of Atomaus, Gallery Dong Dong in Seoul, Korea 2002 Solo Exhibition, Kobayashi Gallery in Tokyo, Japan 2003 Crash, IImin Museum of Art in Seoul, Korea 2006 Smoking, One and J Gallery in Seoul, Korea 2007 Atomaus, Gallery Mook in Beijing, China 2008 Bubbles, Willem Kerseboom Gallery in Amsterdam, Netherlands 2008 Dongi Lee Solo Exhibition, Keumsan Gallery in Tokyo, Japah 2008 Bubbles, Gallery 2 in Seoul, Korea 2008 Double Vision, Gallery 2 in Seoul, Korea 2009 Double Vision, Galerie Michael Schultz in Berlin, Germany 2010 Bittersweet, Gallery 2 in Seoul, Korea 2011 Role Playing Game, Lotte Gallery in Seoul, Korea 2012 Garden of Uncertainty, Gallery 2 in Seoul, Korea 2013 Don’t Look Back in Anger, Songwon Art Center in Seoul, Korea 2014 Zero Gravity, GALLERY HYUNDAI in Seoul, Korea 2016 Abyss, Gallery 2 in Seoul, Korea 2017 Dongi Lee Unplugged, Gallery 2, Jungsun Nongwon in Jeju, Korea 2017 Dongi Lee, CL Art in Seoul, Korea 2018 Lee Dongi: 2015-2018, PIBI Gallery in Seoul, Korea 2018 Words, Gallery 2 in Seoul, Korea 2018 Hashtag, Handok Museum of Medicine and Pharmacy in Eumsung, Korea 2019 Lee Dongi, 1993-2014: Back to the future, PIBI Gallery in Seoul, Korea 2019 Welcome to My World, Banyan Tree Club & Spa in Seoul, Korea 2020 ATOMAUS, NYB Gallery in Kirkland, WA, USA 2020 Group Show at Art TNZ at Sho+1 booth in Tokyo, Japan 2021 Dongi Lee : Pentagon, PIBI Gallery in Seoul, Korea 2021 Group Show at Art Busan 2022 at PIBI Gallery booth in Busan, Korea 2021 Group Show at Art Fair Tokyo 2021 at Sho+1 booth in Tokyo, Japan 2021 Redux Atomaus, Sho+1 in Tokyo, Japan 2022 Group Show at Art Fair Tokyo 2022 at Sho+1 booth in Tokyo, Japan 2022 Uncontrollable, Space ISU in Seoul, Korea 2022 The Moments We Encounter, Group Show at Suwon Museum of Art in Suwon, Korea 2022 Paik Nam June Effect, Group Show at National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Gwacheon, Korea 2023 Room of Inspiration, Group Show at Gallery Royal in Seoul, Korea 2023 Group Show at AFAF2023 at Sho+1 booth in Fukuoka, Japan 2023《Half/Half》Dongi Lee/Kids, Participatory exhibition at Ulsan Art Museum/Gallery 3 in Ulsan, Korea -24 2023《2023 Title Match》Dongi Lee vs. Sangwoo Kang at Buk-Seoul Museum of Art in Seoul, Korea -24 2024 Multiplied Atomaus +, Sho+1 in Tokyo, Japan