[2025 The Armory Show] Lee So Yeun | 5 - 7 September 2025

Lee So Yeun translates her self-image, memories, and experiences into a visual language, engaging in an inquiry into the fluid boundaries between sameness and otherness, intimacy and estrangement. Her practice, marked by a subtle theatricality and an uncanny sense of familiarity, aligns with the lineage of Pop Art, which reflects fragments of everyday life, while simultaneously integrating surrealist elements that provoke the imagination. At first glance, her works may appear ordinary, yet upon closer examination, they reveal an underlying dissonance, eliciting emotions of oppression, fear, nostalgia, and desire. This affective resonance emerges from the gaps created by unfamiliar juxtapositions, allowing for the projection of individual longing. In contrast to Western artists who often emphasize distance and alienation, Lee’s work explores the process of merging with the object of desire. Through self-portraiture seamlessly integrated into her compositions, she captures ephemeral moments where the internal and external converge, articulated through bold forms and luminous hues.

Lee So Yeun majored in fine art in South Korea and continued her studies at the Münster Kunst Academy in Germany. Her nomination for Düsseldorf's "Emprise Art Prize" catalysed her recognition within the German art sector. By 2005, she earned the "Young Artist Award" from the Columbus Art Foundation in Ravensburg, Germany. From 2006, she collaborated exclusively with Düsseldorf's esteemed Conrad Gallery, achieving international acclaim at renowned art fairs including the Cologne Art Colony in Germany, Show Off in Paris, France, ARCO in Madrid, Spain, and Scope and Pulse Art Fairs in New York, United States. She has showcased solo exhibitions at Kunsthaus Essen, Germany (2014), Johyun Gallery, South Korea (2014), and Space K, South Korea (2013). She also participated in notable group exhibitions at the Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, South Korea (2018), Sejong Centre, South Korea (2017), Amway Museum, South Korea (2016), Pohang Museum of Steel Art, South Korea (2015), and Gallery Lux, South Korea (2015). Currently, her works are part of collections at TCB collection in Japan, Achenbach Art Consulting in Germany, the Columbus Foundation, and t.VIS.t Communication in Madrid, Spain.