Biography

Kang Joo Lee was born in Seoul, and currently resides in New York. She has a BFA in Religious Fine Art from Incheon Catholic University in Korea, and an MA in Art Education from Sook-Myung Women's University in Korea. Kang Joo also earned an MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Kang Joo creates dynamic renditions of what she sees and feels in urban spaces. She has always been in the middle of the city—Seoul, Chicago and New York – and her work relates the experience of the "middle". Prior to exhibiting with 2 Rules, Kang Joo has had solo and group shows in Seoul, Chicago, and New York. Kang Joo is an associated art director and art instructor at PI Art Center in New York and New Jersey.

Statement

My paintings are dense records of the shifting of perspectives, both literal and metaphorical, of the passing of time in contemporary urban life. I react to the constant, chaotic influx of stimuli, commodity fetishism, and the rise of the young urban professional class. This infiltrates my life and surrounding, and I think about its impact on the collective urban psyche.

My main interest lies in the intersection between the actual, physical cityscape and the objects, activities and movements I encounter. I bring these things into shape and give them form and color through multiple layers, linear and atmospheric perspective, and various pictorial vocabularies.

By introducing different processes in one piece such as screen-printing, stenciling, paint skins and collage, I emphasize the materiality of the paint through built up layers. I am also interested in the tension between the machine-made and the hand made. This results in compositions that combine illusionistic space and blatantly artificial forms. The tension between the accident and the controlled gesture reflects the shifts in the order and chaos of the urban environment.