Hyung koo Lee (born 1969) has a B.F.A. from Hong-ik University(1998) and a M.F.A. from Yale University(2002). In the same year he was awarded the Joan Mitchell Foundation Award and continued to work in New York. He came back to home in 2003 in order to take part in the Ssamji Residence program, starting his line of work in Korea and his first solo exhibition ‘The Objectuals’ held at the Sungkok Museum(2004) received much attention. In 2006, his second solo exhibition ‘Animatus’ was held at the Arario Gallery and afterwards was selected as the only artist in Korea to participate in the Venice Biennale making it his third solo exhibition. The talk of the world was that this artist has held only two solo exhibitions and is much too young to be selected. However, Lee responded that the number of solo exhibitions does not determine an artist’s quality of artwork and also remarked that the methods and strategies that every artist possesses widely varies.

He affirmed that in his first solo exhibition, 5 years of strenuous work was displayed and in his second exhibition, he used ideas that were cultivated since 2000 and labor-intensively finished his work after two years. In this Venice Biennale, ‘The Objectuals’ series and ‘Animatus’ series along with a new piece of artwork are all going to be shown. At the same time, memos, drawings, materials, bone fragments and the documentations of his working process with new film work which will compliment the two series will be on display. Also, a performance on the opening day of the Korean pavilion is scheduled. He got us curious for it and of the happening as he implied serene things might be more impressive.

Cartoon characters are fictional anthropomorphic creatures living in a two dimensional zone. They are both residing in situations much like our own and representing personalities, behaviors and thoughts of their creators which are human beings. The scientific analysis of these characters and reconstructing them into the three dimension is what the artist called, ‘the process of research in finding the potential or hypothetical anatomic evidence absent of figural proof(excerpt from artist’s notes)’. With his biological background, Lee poses the skeletons that is a symbol of dead bodies in a dynamic posture and ironically plays god giving a new life to the dead bodies. Lee restores the real shape of characters like Tom and Jerry, Bugs Bunny, Donald Duck, Coyote and classifies these creatures into Latin scientific names according to the biological categorization hence combines it with ‘Animatus’ a Greek world referring to ‘Breathe life into something’ and ‘make enliven’. This makes certain the birth of the creatures and the existence of the creator.

In this exhibition as a special feature covering all aspects of his own world of art, he planed to hide the inspiration of his works up to now and clues about his subsequent series. If we have experienced the virtual reality through transformed images of the body and restored skeletons of characters in his previous solo exhibitions, at this time, we might feel walk in to the three dimensional genuine world realizing his unique imaginative power.

A quick anatomy lesson to review your classic about cartoons: Bugs Bunny, Road Runner and Coyote, Huey Dewey and Louie, Goofy, Mickey, Tweety, Tom and Jerry and others. Skeletons are made of resin on an aluminum structure.

- via artinasia.kr