Jung Lee - Photographs & Helmut Newton: Provocateur London Thursday, May 16, 2024 | Phillips

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  • “Glowing from afar, YOU is beautiful because of its delicacy and purity in a transient moment.” 
    —Jung Lee 

    For her ongoing Aporia series, Korean artist Jung Lee (b.1972) explores the power of words through her personified, text-based neon installations set in natural landscapes. Aporia, meaning a paradox or an expression of doubt in Greek, was inspired by Roland Barthes’ A Lover’s Discourse, a story of love, language and solitude. To create YOU, an early work from the series, Lee placed the neon word in the far distance on a deserted beach in the west coast of Korea during the lowest tide: ‘At the lowest tide, the water is farthest away and the timing is fleeting but intense.’ Lee continues, ‘I believed that this timing could portray the word “YOU” in a mysterious and beautiful way, so I took the neon as close to the sea as I could.’ This dreamy yet lonely setting invites the viewer to reflect on the reverberations that ‘YOU’ evokes.  

     

    Based in Seoul, Jung Lee has exhibited widely, including at the Seoul Museum of Art, and her work resides in the prestigious Burger Collection, Hong Kong. Notable collaborations include the album cover for Maroon 5’s V in 2014 and a neon installation for Saint Laurent in 2021.

    • Condition Report

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    • Exhibited

      Dual Images, Pohang Museum of Steel Art, 2011, another
      Daegu Photo Biennale 2012: Photographic!, Daegu Culture and Arts Center, 20 September - 28 October 2012, another
      Crossing Media – A Stage for Art, Villa Merkel, Esslingen, 19 July - 6 October 2013, another
      The Secret Garden, Seoul Museum of Art, 18 October 2016 - 5 March 2017, another
      Meta-scape, Wooyang Museum of Contemporary Art, Gyeongju, 9 June - 8 October 2017, another
      Daegu Forum I: Playground for Poetry, Daegu Art Museum, 15 June - 26 September 2021, another

    • Literature

      J. Marcelle, Korean Art: The Power of Now, London: Thames & Hudson, 2013, p. 199

ULTIMATE

9

YOU from Aporia

2010
Chromogenic print, Diasec-mounted and mounted.
Image/Sheet: 170 x 136 cm (66 7/8 x 53 1/2 in.)
Frame: 174.8 x 140.6 cm (68 7/8 x 55 3/8 in.)

Signed in Chinese characters in ink, printed title, date and number AP 1/2 on an artist label on the reverse of the frame.

This work is AP1 from the sold-out edition of 5 + 2 APs. This image exists only in this size and edition.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
£15,000 - 25,000 

Sold for £33,020

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Rachel Peart
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RPeart@phillips.com
 

Yuka Yamaji
Head of Photographs, Europe
YYamaji@phillips.com
 

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Photographs & Helmut Newton: Provocateur

London Auction 16 May 2024