Artist: Sea Hyun Lee

Galerie Peter Kilchmann presents “Red Romance”, the first solo exhibition of South Korean artist Sea Hyun Lee. Known for his spectacular “Red Sansu” landscapes, Lee’s work employs vibrant red tones to evoke emotions such as grief, pain, fear, and beauty, while simultaneously challenging the viewer to look beyond the surface of idyllic landscapes and explore the complexities beneath.

The exhibition will feature a series of paintings created between 2022 and 2025, ranging in size from intimate pieces to large-scale works. The largest work in the exhibition measures an impressive 200 x 200 cm., inviting the viewer to contemplate the tensions between utopian beauty and unsettling realities.

Sea Hyun Lee (1967, Geojedo, South Korea; lives and works in Seoul and London) is celebrated for his unique ability to blend traditional Korean landscape painting with a contemporary emotional depth. His approach was profoundly shaped by his experiences during military service in South Korea, where he observed the landscape along the border between North and South Korea through a night-vision device. This moment became pivotal for Lee, inspiring his choice of red to symbolise the emotional weight of his observations: sorrow, fear, and the underlying beauty within a landscape marred by division.

The exhibition also includes works in royal blue, offering a moment of tranquility and serenity amidst the intensity of the red landscapes. These blue works allow the artist to focus on the mysticism and beauty of nature, without the emotional complexity that pervades his red-toned pieces.

Through Red Romance, Sea Hyun Lee encourages us to reflect on the interplay between nature, history, and the irreversible impacts of human intervention. His work transcends traditional landscape painting, offering a poignant meditation on the beauty and loss inherent in the world around us.

Sea Hyun Lee (1967, Geojedo, South Korea; lives and works in Seoul and London) is a graduate of the Chelsea College of Arts in London who's solo exhibitions include, among others, the Horbach Foundation, Cologne, the Savina Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul (both 2024), the Bermel von Luxburg Gallery, Berlin, the Shinsegae Gallery, Seoul (both 2023), the Mimesis Art Museum, Paju, Korea (2015), the VOUS ETES ICI Gallery, Amsterdam (2014), the Nicholas Robinson Gallery, New York (2011), the Contemporary Museum of Hongik University, Seoul (2001). Group exhibitions include, for instance, the Kunstmuseum Bern, Hangaram Art Museum, Seoul (both 2021), Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Anshan, Hwangnyongsa Historic Museum, Gyeongju, Museo Nacional de las Culturas y del Mundo, Mexico, National Museum of Korea, Seoul, Korea (all 2018), Vestfossen Museum, Vestfossen (2016), Sanshang Contemporary Art Museum, Hangzhou (2014), Seoul Museum of Art, Santralistanbul Museum, Istanbul (both 2009), Neuberger Museum of Art, New York (2008), Tate Britain, London (2007). In 2011, the artist exhibited as part of the ILLUMInations Biennale in Venice.

His work is already represented in several collections, including the All Visual Arts Collection, London, the Bank of America Collection, USA, the Berger Collection, Zurich, the Microsoft Art Collection, USA, the Uli Sigg Collection, Zurich, the Hana Bank Collection, Seoul, the collection of the Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, and the collection of the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea.