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The Art World in Focus
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Lee Dongwook

LEE DONGWOOK

Red and Shiny Arario Gallery 4 September–12 October 2024 Seoul
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Press Release

ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL presents LEE Dongwook’s (b. 1976) solo exhibition, entitled Red and Shiny, from 4 September to 12 October 2024. LEE Dongwook’s sculptural works express a keen insight into and critique of the complex and fragile nature of human existence within society. In this exhibition, LEE achieves this through a method of combining small human figures with his personal collection of objects. In his latest exhibition, LEE presents large-scale installations that partially include small figurines and objects that juxtapose different materials to heighten sensory sensitivity and visual aesthetics. His characteristic cynical and cold perspective is particularly evident in his sculptures and installations, where artificial structures and human forms coexist in a chilling and sticky manner. The tension created by the meticulously arranged human figures, remnants, or traces imbues LEE Dongwook’s work with both an immediate aesthetic pleasure and a profound insight into humanity.

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About the Artist

Dongwook Lee’s works focus on the contradictions that are fundamentally inherent in human existence and life. Exquisitely hyper-realistic and surrealistically imagined renditions of his miniature human figures are staged in absurd situations in Lee’s works, in which the bleak everyday life transforms into poetic horror. In Lee’s work, a fragile warrior is wearing his own flesh as his armor, and the naked child stands with innocent face in front of blood-stained killing (which he might have committed). His oeuvre stands at an odd intersection of life and death, beauty and cruelty, civilization and wild, and reality and fantasy, unfolding a world of fantasy where people are severed from reality.

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Also Exhibiting at Arario Gallery

All Exhibitions
Huang Hankang
HUANG HANKANG The Sky Remains as the Bird Departs Arario Gallery 15 May–4 July 2026 Shanghai
Kang Cheol Gyu
KANG CHEOL GYU KANG Cheolgyu: Discarded Host Arario Gallery 1 May–20 June 2026 Seoul
Leslie De Chavez
LESLIE DE CHAVEZ Leslie de CHAVEZ: Thy Will Be Done Arario Gallery 1 May–20 June 2026 Seoul
About the Gallery

ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL opened its doors in Sogyeok-dong in 2006. Since then, it has established its foothold as a leading contemporary art gallery in Korea and across Asia, continuing to be at the forefront of the international art scene through its efficient representation system and bold exhibitions. In March 2014, ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL relocated near the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. In April 2018, ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL RYSE HOTEL, a second exhibition space in Seoul, opened in the Hongdae area. Running concurrently with its primary location until November 2019, the project space aimed to mirror the experimental spirit of the neighbourhood through its innovative programming. In 2022, ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL ended its Sogyeok-dong era. However, the various experimentation and ventures carried out in the gallery’s previous spaces continue to shape its future at its current location in Wonseo-dong, which reopened in February 2023. Through the preemptive discovery of young artists, steady support of represented artists, and the realisation of meaningful and original exhibitions, ARARIO GALLERY SEOUL aims to continually grow and contribute to the growth of the contemporary art scene in Korea.

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Address
85, Yulgok-ro
Jongno-gu
Seoul
South Korea
Opening Hours
Tuesday – Saturday
11am – 6pm
(1)
Seoul 85, Yulgok-ro, Jongno-gu
Arario Gallery contemporary art gallery in Seoul South Korea
Arario Gallery
85, Yulgok-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea
+82 2541 5701
http://www.arariogallery.com

Opening hours
Tuesday – Saturday
11am – 6pm
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The art world in focus