Ungno Lee, Julian Opie, and Sophie Calle
Text and Human
September 26, 2012–January 13, 2013
Ungno LeeMuseum of Art
157 Dunsandae-ro [396 Manmyun-dong]
Su-gu, Daejeon, Korea
T 042 611 9800
F 042 611 9819
A Re-interpretation of Ungno Lee’s Art in the Social Network Era
A common theme found in the art of Ungno Lee, Julian Opie, and Sophie Calle is the way human figures can be regarded as text. Living in today’s social media era, we are connected, revealed, and read by one another. Sophie Calle who captures simple everyday scenes mixed with fictional narratives, and Julian Opie who represents simplified human images have a connection with Ungno Lee who painted group figures where they are not represented as faceless individuals but as agents of history.
Both Julian Opie and Sophie Calle are interested in large movements and world changes caused by the mundane and small acts of individuals. Their work is similar to that of Ungno Lee because he had the same interests in human figures in history. The human figures in Ungno Lee’s are not anonymous crowds but are depicted as individuals, as the driving force and power behind history and historical changes. This is the dynamism behind the idea of reading humans as text in all of these artists’ works.
This exhibition will be an opportunity to rediscover Ungno Lee’s work in a new light, as someone who, like Julian Opie and Sophie Calle, presents human figures as text.
Humans and Object: Julian Opie
All of us have the desire to be seen or read by others, which is to say to become a “text.” Through hairstyle, clothes, and accessories, people reveal themselves to others; and they chose their adornments carefully for that purpose. Julian Opie’s work reflects this because he paints objects such as glasses, cigarettes, and clothes to reveal individual tastes and choices. They are expressions of individuality.
Humans and Human Relations: Ungno Lee
People in this SNS era use identities in the constant communication flow between themselves and others on the social network. This is a quality also found in Ungno Lee’s art. His human figures are either holding hands or using their body parts to connect with each other as active beings taking part in history. Expressed with dots and one-stroke brush lines, his figures appear to be moving in harmony in a dance-like rhythmic flow.
Humans and Time: Sophie Calle
Sophie Calle wants to put everyday incidents, however small or mundane, on record. When such a moment is recorded in a photo or in a text, the life of the person involved becomes meaningful and special. Human lives exist in time and meaning is given through a record of them in time.
Sophie Calle uses various media, such as film and photography, and combines text with her images. By putting images and text together, she highlights connections between the two and brings out new perspectives on experiencing and seeing the world.
The Viewer and Text
In the Text and Human exhibition, viewers become key participants in the art on display. Following the storytelling of the exhibit, viewers follow the artists’ works and participate in giving them meaning based on their own understanding. Through this experience, viewers change from being passive observers to active creators. At this point, they are no longer just following the text, but become part of the text themselves. When this happens, the purpose, process and concept of the Text and Human exhibition is fulfilled.