The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, is pleased to present Lee Kun-Yong in Snail’s Gallop, as a part of Exhibition of Korean Contemporary Artists Series. The series is organized to provide the basis for research development of Korean contemporary art history. The retrospective of the master artist Lee Kun-Yong (b. 1942), who has worked on experimental works from 1970s up to now, displays over 80 representative works from the artist's career.

The installation work Corporal Term, which was first shown in 1971 and has ben shown internationally since then including at Paris Biennale, will be produced and installed for this exhibition. The viewer can also observe the changes and flow in the artist's oeuvre and ideology through the chronological introduction of The method of Drawing. This work demonstrates the artist's question 'why painting must be made from the front of the canvas', and shows Lee's distinctive approach to painting from beside, behind and on the other side of the canvas. The comprehensive exhibition of Le also includes his major performance art works and related videos and photographs.

Lee opened up a new horizon in Korean contemporary art as the leader of the group 'Space and Time', established in 1969 to create a tight relationship between theoretical research on contemporary art and art works, and as a main member of 'Avant-garde Group'. He also contributed in expanding the diversity of Korean contemporary art, through his experimental endeavors in conceptual art, performance art and installation art.

Exhibition of Korean Contemporary Artists Series' Lee Kun-Yong in Snail's Gallop sheds a new light on a pioneering artist who led the avant-garde art scene in Korea. The exhibition offers a unique inspiring experience, with Lee demonstrating a performance event once or twice a month.

*image (left)
Kun-yong Lee,
Snail's Gallop, 1979
performance 
courtesy of the artist and MMCA