Selection
MoonLight
Lee Myungmi2025.10.13 ~ 2026.02.24
Description of the work
- Media acrylic on canvas
- Location LOTTE HOTEL SEOUL MAIN TOWER 1F
Lee Myungmi’s artistic world can be described through the concept of play. Play is not only the title of her works but also the title of many of her solo exhibitions, beginning with her first in 1977. For Lee, play represents an immediate and sensual joy, free from the pursuit of abstract art’s spiritual realm, rigid logic, or utopian ideals. At a time dominated by monochrome painting, her canvases established a distinctive position with vibrant primary colors that suggested vitality and new values. Everyday motifs such as flowerpots and animals—familiar objects from daily life—are rendered in simple, childlike forms and striking colors that move beyond the ordinary. The artist’s brushstrokes and luminous palette evoke the sense of play itself, creating a canvas where unpredictability is embraced rather than feared. For Lee, play is an affirmation of chance within the increasingly complex conditions of life, and by extension, an affirmation of the world and of life.
Since her debut exhibition Play (1977), Lee has continued to develop her distinctive painterly style, producing works such as Flowerpot and Landscape. These works draw inspiration from ordinary subjects, which, while commonplace, become sources of creative energy for the artist. Through clear forms and bold colors, she creates a world that is intuitive and spontaneous, as if painting in play. Her canvases are filled with bursts of text, energetic brushstrokes, and vivid hues. By transforming ordinary or nearly overlooked objects of daily life into a visual language, Lee establishes a unique form of expression.
Artwork Inquiry
02 – 747 - 7736
Since her debut exhibition Play (1977), Lee has continued to develop her distinctive painterly style, producing works such as Flowerpot and Landscape. These works draw inspiration from ordinary subjects, which, while commonplace, become sources of creative energy for the artist. Through clear forms and bold colors, she creates a world that is intuitive and spontaneous, as if painting in play. Her canvases are filled with bursts of text, energetic brushstrokes, and vivid hues. By transforming ordinary or nearly overlooked objects of daily life into a visual language, Lee establishes a unique form of expression.
Artwork Inquiry
02 – 747 - 7736
About the author
Lee Myungmi (b. 1950) is an artist who studied painting at Hongik University and quickly gained recognition as the youngest female participant and founding member of the Daegu Contemporary Art Festival in 1974. She actively took part in major exhibitions such as the 《Indépendants》, 《Seoul Contemporary Art Festival》, and 《Korean Experimental Artists Exhibition》. Rejecting the dominance of Dansaekhwa and Conceptual Art, she built a unique painterly language guided by emotion and intuition.
Her paintings that marked by bold colors and spontaneous brushstrokes celebrate the joy of expression and the freedom of thought. Through thelanguage of “Play,” she transforms everyday objects, animals, plants, and letters into simple yet striking forms, elevating overlooked subjects into vivid symbols. She has exhibited widely at major institutions including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, the Tokyo Contemporary Asian Art Festival, Fukuoka Art Museum, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, and Kumho Museum of Art, as well as holding solo shows at Indang Museum and the Arts Council Korea Museum.
Her paintings that marked by bold colors and spontaneous brushstrokes celebrate the joy of expression and the freedom of thought. Through thelanguage of “Play,” she transforms everyday objects, animals, plants, and letters into simple yet striking forms, elevating overlooked subjects into vivid symbols. She has exhibited widely at major institutions including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, the Tokyo Contemporary Asian Art Festival, Fukuoka Art Museum, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, and Kumho Museum of Art, as well as holding solo shows at Indang Museum and the Arts Council Korea Museum.
Lee Myungmi (1950-, Korea)
B.F.A Graduated from Dept. of Western Painting, Hongik University, Seoul
M.F.A Graduated from Dept. of Art Education, Hongik University, Seoul
M.F.A Graduated from Dept. of Art Education, Hongik University, Seoul
