Form in Absence
Lee yong Deok
oct.3rd - nov.17th
opening reception
oct.3rd 6 - 8pm
opening reception
oct.3rd 6 - 8pm
Lee Yong Deok (b. 1959, Seoul) is a Korean sculptor whose
practice redefines the boundaries of form, perception, and
space. Educated at Seoul National University and later in Berlin
as a Meisterschüler, he has exhibited internationally at the
Seoul Museum of Art, the National Art Museum of China, and
the Duolun Museum of Modern Art in Shanghai. Throughout his
career, Lee has received numerous awards, including the
Moonshin Fine Art Award and the Kimseajoong Prize, which
have marked his influential role in contemporary sculpture.
At the heart of his artistic inquiry lies inverted sculpture, a
series that exists between what seems to emerge outward and
what, in reality, recedes inward. These works challenge the
viewer’s assumptions by presenting concave forms that appear
convex, dismantling the line between solidity and void. Lee’s sculptures embody a quiet tension in which presence and
absence, reality and illusion coexist, making the act of
perception unstable and endlessly shifting. By engaging with
light, shadow, and perspective, he creates figures that seem to
transform before the viewer’s eyes.
In this way, inverted sculpture resists the notion of sculpture as
a fixed object and instead becomes an active experience. The
works invite audiences to move, look again, and participate in
the unfolding of form—discovering that surface and depth,
appearance and truth, are never absolute but always in a state
of dialogue. Through this exploration, Lee Yong Deok expands
thought and perception, leaving viewers to question not only
what they see but how they see.