SEA HYUN LEE
at Kunsthall 3,14 until 9 June
As one enters the exhibition space at Kunsthall 3,14, the resonance of the large-scale, red paintings is impactful and mesmerising. It's unusual to see such large-scale paintings, particularly in monochrome and particularly in Norway, yet at first the subject of these massive paintings eludes us.
From a distance and at first glance, the paintings appear abstract. Swathes of vaguely careless brush marks interrupt the pristine canvases with monochrome strokes that stink of abstract expressionism. The single colour employed - a vibrant, warning red - adds to this sense of abstraction, appearing as though the painter has opened his last tin of paint and hurriedly painted with an oversized brush.
Squinting at the paintings, a nuclear detonation can be seen amongst the brush marks, the iconic image of a mushroom cloud, a hidden threat, that’s so abstract one wonders if it’s really even there.
Yet the paintings invite us closer.
As one approaches, the nuclear threat vanishes and we engage in an as-yet unseen world. Landscapes filled with communities of countless figures, painted in intricate detail, reveal themselves on the canvas. The red becomes our new norm as the huge paintings encompass us and invite us to explore their endless and exquisitely painted narratives, It’s no surprise that each painting takes six months to complete, as the artist renders each landscape and figure in breathtaking detail.
The Korean artist Sea Hyun Lee served in the Korean military in the DMZ - the demilitarised zone - between North and South Korea. His works are painted from his memory of staring through an infrared camera whilst on patrol.
It's refreshing to see an exhibition that operates on so many levels, invoking a response that's physical, intellectual and emotional. Lee’s paintings are a metaphor for how the West sees North Korea - a misunderstood nation, an abstract nation, with a vague danger of nuclear obliteration. Yet the artist invites us beyond this media-driven narrative and shows us the landscapes, the activities, the people and the beauty that make up Korea.
Between Red run until 9 June.
