The Infinite Experiments of Lee Kang So The Art of Capturing the Nakdong Zephyrs
By Jung Yeon-jin (independent curator)
Following his retrospective at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), Seoul, which served as a masterful cartography of the artists’s pre-eminent standing with the canon of Korea art, the Daegu Art Museum presents Lee Kang So’s very recent retrospective Flowing Water, Ongoing Experience. This presentation at the artist’s hometown, Daegu, reveals the profound spirit that guided Lee’s lifelong journey, inviting the viewers to witness the artist’s fervently dedicated life to art.
Whilst Lee Kang So's retrospective at MMCA (2024—2025), showcased the artist’s definitive chapter in Korean art history, the current retrospective at the Daegu Art Museum provides a more total experience and a beautifully composed biography. The presented works uses the Nakdong River located in Daegu as the primary fount of his creative inspiration. The works also are in remembrance of the vibrant memories of the 'Daegu Contemporary Art Festival', which Lee and his contemporaries were so passionately kindled by during the 1970s.
The fundamental inquiry throughout Lee Kang So’s career has been: ‘What is it that we are perceiving?’ Through his works, Lee poses this question into our daily lives, and prompts us to reflect on how each individual perceives the world through each of their unique lens. Notably, this exhibition adopts a reverse-chronological structure, commencing with his most recent masterpieces and traversing back through time.
