Yeji Sei Lee: Call me by my name
November 17 - December 9, 2023
“Call me by my name”, 2023, Oil and Charcoal on canvas, 560 x 200 cm
PRESS RELEASE:
この度 THE LOOP GALLERY は、2023 年 11 月 17 日(金)から 12 月 9 日(土)まで、李晟睿智(Yeji Sei Lee)の個展『“Call me by my name”』を開催いたします。
李晟睿智は、周縁化された場や、多⺠族地域を含むアジアに足を運び、その社会構造に着目した作品を制作するアーティストです。まるで地図を起こすように描かれる、湿度を持った特徴的な色彩と光の表現は、臨場感を伴いながらアジアの人々の生活をリアルに映し出します。
本展では、昨年のドイツ・ミュンヘンへの交換留学をきっかけに見つめ直すこととなった、李自身の3世代に渡る親子関係に着目した作品を展示します。
移⺠として日本に暮らす母と、韓国に暮らす祖母を持つ李は、自身の幼少期から今日に至るまでの記憶の断片を記録するように作品を制作しました。李、母、祖母それぞれの親子関係と個々が抱くアイデンティティと親子愛、それらが時代と環境に翻弄されながら、家族という近い距離感にいるからこそ、複雑に交わり合っていく感情の葛藤を、絵画や写真によって多角的に浮き彫りにしています。
大作のタイトルでもある「“Call me by my name”」は、名前で呼ばれることで、誰もがライフステージごとに多重的に抱える役割から解放される意味を包含しています。
是非、誰かの母親であること、父親であること、娘であること、息子であることを忘れ、1 人の人間という視点から、この親子の物語をご覧になってください。身近な人や、記憶の中の人がこれまでとは異なった存在として見えてくるのではないでしょうか。
The LOOP Gallery is pleased to announce Yeji Sei Lee’s solo exhibition “Call me by my name” from November 17th to December 9th, 2023.
Yeji Sei Lee is specialized to picture marginalized places from multi-ethnic areas in Asia, focusing on its social structure. The depiction, more like mapping, with distinctive colors and expressions of humidity, vividly reflect the lives of Asian people with a sense of realism.
The central concept of this exhibition revolves around the relationship among three generations of her family. It lead her to reconsider this aspect once again while she was an exchange student in Germany, Munich.
Lee, who has an immigrant mother lives in Japan and grandmother in South Korea, found her motivation to create artworks in capturing the memories from her childhood to the present day.
Through paintings and photographs, Lee portray the intricate emotional conflict arising from the relationships between Lee, mother and grandmother, the individual identities they hold, and the love shared between them. Positioned within the intimate proximity of the family, these emotions interweave complexity as they navigate the challenges imposed by time and environment.
The name of this exhibition “call me by my name” encompasses the meaning of liberation from roles everyone carries at each stage of life when referred to by name.
Take a moment to set aside your role as a mother, father, daughter or son and explore their story from you as an individual. You may find that people close to you or those in your memories appear different than you’ve known.
ARTIST STATEMENT:
Yeji Sei Lee は、ナショナリティと生活の場の複雑な関係性や歴史の中で刻々と刻まれる個人史をアートという方法でどのように思考し可視化出来るかという問題に焦点を当てています。
彼女の内面の探求と外部の環境との対話の過程で、絵画物質と作家の精神性が交錯する瞬間を捉えるかのような視覚的表現を用います。
This exhibition is centered around the relationship between a (Korean) mother and daughter. The exhibition title, "Call me by my name," aims to shed light on the individuality of women who navigate multiple identities as they age— being girls, adults, wives, daughters-in-law, mothers, and grandmothers. Not to mention, these women also carry other identities as they excel in their jobs - I would also like to highlight women in the workplace and women in leadership. Even though the title includes first-person pronounces “me” and “my”, they do not necessarily mean me, but it can be any woman living in this modern society, including you.
If you came to my past exhibitions or saw my previous works, you would probably realize that my artistic expressions were based on something external - for instance, outside construction sites, apartments someone lives in, or individuals walking on the street. I had then my one year of study in Germany from 2021 to 2022, which was quite an eye-opening experience for me in the way that it gave me opportunities to interact with other Korean students and talk about who we were and where we came from. Having conversations about my identity and family with others and listening to other people’s stories - everything about this was new, and to tell you the truth, I did not have many opportunities to do so before moving to Germany. The conversations I had with my Korean fellow in Germany pushed me to explore the presence of my mom and my relationship with my mom, as a daughter who lives miles away from home. Furthermore, the physical distance from my mother changed the nature of our conversations and led to an introspective exploration of the theme of 'mother and daughter'.
Conversations with Korean students, interactions with my mother and reflections from books I came across during my stay in Germany have revealed an image of the Korean mother, shaped by post-war difficulties and economic conditions and influenced by a Confucian lifestyle, but also embracing multiple identities in a resilient manner. I believe, therefore, that 'Omma', the Korean word for mother, has a meaning beyond mere 'mother'.
이 전시는 (한국의)모녀간의 관계에 촛점을 맞추었습니다. 전시 제목인 “Call me by my name”은 나이와 더불어 중복되는(소녀,여성,아내,어머니,며느리,할머니)여성의 정체성을 조명하는 의미로 선택했습니다.
타이틀에는“me”와“my”라는 1 인칭 대명사가 포함되어 있지만 이는 반드시 저만을 지칭하는 것은 아니며 여러분을 포함한 현대 사회의 모든 여성을 의미하기도 합니다. 이전의 저의 예술적인 표현은 주로 외부 요소에 어프로치하는 과정이었습니다. 예를 들면 건설 현장이나 누군가 살고 있는 아파트나 혹은 거리를 걷고 있는 사람 등입니다.
하지만 2021 년부터 2022 년까지 1 년 동안 독일에서의 연구 생활은 저에게 크나큰 자극이 되어 전환점이 되었습니다. 다른 한국 유학생과의 교류를 통해 나 자신이 누구이며 우리가 어디에서 왔는지에 대해 이야기할 기회가 되었습니다. 다른 사람과 정체성이나 가족에 대한 이야기를 나누거나 다른 사람의 이야기를 듣는 것 등 이 모든 것이 새로웠습니다. 사실 독일로 가기 전에는 그런 기회가 별로 없었기 때문입니다. 독일에서 만난 한국 친구들과의 대화는 고향에서 멀리 떨어져 살아가는 딸로서의 제 어머니 존재를 탐구하는 계기가 되었습니다. 이와 아울러 어머니와의 물리적인 거리는 모녀간의 대화에 변화를 주고 “어머니와 딸”이라는 주제의 내면적인 탐구로 이어지게 되었습니다.
독일 체류 기간 동안 한국 학생들과의 대화와 어머니와의 교류, 그리고 체류 동안 접한 책을 통해 전쟁 후의 역경과 경제적으로 어려운 환경,여성의 인권이 제한되는 유교적인 환경 속에서 살아가기 위해서 여러 정체성을 받아들이는 강인함이 있었다는 것을 알게 되었습니다.
ABOUT THE ARTIST:
李 晟 睿智 (Yeji Sei Lee)
1995年 東京都生まれ
2020年 3 月 東京藝術大学美術学部絵画科油画専攻 卒業
2020年 4 月 東京藝術大学大学院美術研究科絵画専攻油画研究室 入学
2021年 10 月~2022 年 7 月
Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, Klasse Prof. Pia Fries ミュンヘン、ドイツ
2024年 3 月 東京藝術大学大学院美術研究科絵画専攻油画研究室 修了予定
個展：
2021年 Geographica、コートヤード HIROO、東京
2023年 “Call me by my name”、THE LOOP GALLERY、東京
グループ展：
2018年 A-TOM Art Prize 受賞作品展「都市じゃないかも展」、コートヤード HIROO、東京
2019年 NI/O 展、3331Arts Chiyoda、東京
2019年 上野芸友賞展「singing gene」、東京藝術大学、東京
2020年 第 68 回東京藝術大学卒業・修了作品展、東京都美術館、東京
2021年 Capture 展、Rikka Gallery、東京
2022年 KUMA Exhibition 2022、ANB Tokyo、東京
2022年 Zwischen Gestern und Morgen, Museum Kurhaus Kleve, Germany
受賞歴：
2018 年 A-TOM Art Prize 受賞 2019 年 上野芸友賞 受賞
2020 年 O氏記念賞 受賞
奨学金：
2019 年 上野芸友奨学金 受給
2019 年 石橋財団油画海外派遣プログラム奨学金 受給
2020 年 O 氏記念賞奨学金 受給
2020 年 朝鮮奨学会奨学金 受給
2020 年 神山財団奨学金 受給
2021 年 KUMA 財団クリエイター奨学金 受給
2021 年 JASSO 海外留学支援奨学金 受給
2023 年 朝鮮奨学会奨学金 受給
2023 年 KUMA 財団クリエイター支援奨学金 受給
展覧会詳細：
“Call me by my name”
李 晟 睿智 Yeji Sei Lee
会期:2023 年 11 月 17 日(金)〜12 月 9 日(土)
開廊時間:11:00 ‒ 18:00
休廊日:日曜、月曜、祝日
※オープニングレセプション:11 月 17 日(金)17 時〜20 時
会場:THE LOOP GALLERY
東京都港区⻄新橋 2 丁目 17-1 八雲ビル4F 105-0003
助成：公益財団法人クマ財団
