Past Exhibitions
The Lee Ungno Museum began the Lee Ungno Residence in Paris in 2014 as a research-centered creativity program to provide a foundation for Daejeon-based artists towards raising their international profile. Each year, the program selects three artists to live and work in Paris for three months. Selected artists focus on creative activity in Vaux-sur-Seine, a commune near Paris that is also home to the Goam Atelier. Many are recognized as having grown significantly as artists through their experiences in Vaux-sur-Seine.
In 2014~2015, the Lee Ungno Museum held exhibitions of program participants’ creative outcomes at Daejeon City Hall, all of which were well-received. The exhibition for the 15 participants of the 2016~22 programs will be held at the Lee Ungno Museum. The vision of the Lee Ungno Residence in Paris is grounded in Lee’s move to Europe in 1958 and the artistic growth he achieved through this decision. Just as the new forms of contemporary art Lee experienced in Germany and France broadened his capabilities and spurred his passion for his craft, the 15 artists featured in this exhibition used the abundant art infrastructure and resources available in Paris—an international center for culture and the arts—to hone their skills and redefine their artistic worlds. The artists previously displayed the outcomes of their participation (which included visits to major art museums/exhibitions in France and seminars with French artists) at “Open Studio” events. This exhibition, the highlight of the presentation of participant outcomes, was visited by representatives of the Parisian art community. Their positive feedback about the participants’ abilities and the Lee Ungno Residence in Paris improved the international visibility not only of the Lee Ungno Museum but also of the city of Daejeon.
The 15 featured artists turned their experiences with Vaux-sur-Seine’s natural surroundings and the Parisian art community into artworks of diverse themes and mediums. All featured works, inspired by Lee’s passion for creating and experimenting, deal with key concepts of contemporary art, such as time, desire, and memory.
This exhibition is an opportunity to see how much these Daejeon artists were able to grow over the past few years through the Lee Ungno Residence in Paris. It is also an invaluable opportunity to think about the program’s future.
