Busan Biennale
The Busan Biennale is a biannual international contemporary art show that integrated three different art events held in the city in 1998: the Busan Youth Biennale, the first biennale of Korea that was voluntarily organized by local artists in 1981; the Sea Art Festival, an environmental art festival launched in 1987 with the sea serving as a backdrop; and the Busan International Outdoor Sculpture Symposium that was first held in 1991. The biennale was previously called the Pusan International Contemporary Art Festival (PICAF) before it launched.
The biennale has its own unique attribute in that it was formed not out of any political logic or need but rather the pure force of local Busan artists’ will and their voluntary participation. Even to this day their interest in Busan's culture and its experimental nature has been the key foundation for shaping the biennale’s identity.
This biennale is the only one like it in the world that was established through an integration of three types of art events such as a Contemporary Art Exhibition, Sculpture Symposium, and Sea Art Festival. The Sculpture Symposium in particular was deemed to be a successful public art event, the results of which were installed throughout the city and dedicated to revitalizing cultural communication with citizens. The networks formed through the event have assumed a crucial role in introducing and expanding domestic art overseas and leading the development of local culture for globalized cultural communication. Founded 38 years ago, the biennale aims to popularize contemporary art and achieve art in everyday life by providing a platform for interchanging experimental contemporary art.
Ka Young Lee
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BB2024 2024-11-29 16:34
A hole, 2008, oil on canvas, 70x90cm.
2010, oil on canvas, 50x40cm.
2009, oil on canvas, 50x40cm.
2009, oil on canvas, 50x40cm.
2010, oil on canvas, 50x40cm.
2010, oil on canvas, 50x40cm.
2009, oil on canvas, 40x50cm.
2009, oil on canvas, 35x40cm.
2010, oil on canvas, 60x50cm.
A lost city, 2007, oil on canvas, 200x100cm.
2011, oil on canvas, 80x100cm.
2011, oil on canvas, 80x100cm.
2010, oil on canvas, 80x70cm.
2010, oil on canvas, 80x70cm.
2010, oil on canvas, 80x70cm.
A lost city, 2008, oil on canvas, 200x300cm.
2010, oil on canvas, 40x35cm.
2009, oil on canvas, 40x35cm.
2009, oil on canvas, 35x40cm.
2009, oil on canvas, 40x35cm.
2010, oil on canvas, 80x70cm.
2010, oil on canvas, 80x70cm.
2010, oil on canvas, 80x70cm.
2010, oil on canvas, 130x97.5cm.
2010, oil on canvas, 130x97.5cm.
Ka Young Lee’s work is driven by her curiosity about the origins of the world and how it works. In the early days of her career, Lee mainly painted monochrome abstract paintings. For the Biennale, Lee presents a selection of works created between 2007 and 2011. The series displays an array of simple black-and-white circles, rectangles, and lines. Closely observing the works allows us to notice that the centre and non-centre intersect and repeat the eternal cycle between the boundary that separates the centre—the ‘line’—and ‘the interior of the line, which becomes the space’. As such, the borders appearing in all of Lee’s works refer to a non-border that includes the embracing space. No specific unity can be designated as the centre, and the border between the interior and the exterior becomes ambiguous. While the iconography may be simple, the works lead to an imagination of endless variations. Recently, Lee has been staying in the Samnangjin area, working on paintings that capture the flora and fauna and the daily life of people who live with them in detailed realism and sculptures of human figures that ponder and explore existence and the world. When juxtaposing her early works with the current ones in a realistic style, Lee’s artistic journey shows a dramatic change. Yet, her artistic viewpoint of interaction between the world’s origins and beings remains consistent.
Ka Young Lee
