[Arena] - Lee Nam LEE
2017-09-04
Lee Nam LEE is
currently participating in ‘Arena’ which is jointly held by Gwanju Museum of
Art and Taipei Fine Art Museum. This exhibition is to commemorate of 2017
Taipei Summer Universiade competition. Arena
brings together
dance, the human body, theater, music, sound, image and text, exploring a
synergetic relationship arising from the convergence of exhibition and
performance. Fundamentally, when this kind of work is placed within the
structure of an exhibition, the participants perform repeatedly throughout the
exhibition period, serving the function of continuous and cyclical display. The
main distinction is that they use non-visual forms of expression and an
immediately present mode of performance.Within such a
context, this exhibition combines static display with live art. The displayed
portion encompasses an exchange exhibition between Taipei Fine Arts Museum and
the Gwangju Museum of Art. The Taiwanese artists seek to “interpose the
viewer,” causing a structural transformation to take place in a single subject
(work), to engender a real experience for the viewer, and not merely an
experience existing in the viewer’s consciousness. Meanwhile, the Gwangju
Museum of Art presents seven Korean artists at the height of their careers.
Through a variety of art forms such as painting, installation and video, they
demonstrate the diversity and value of Korean art. Through this “Arena,” both
the Taiwanese and the Korean artists endow their works with a distinctively
present-tense significance, engaging in a dialogue on the societal level in
conjunction with the Summer Universiade currently taking place in Taipei, and
seeking out a highly hybridized social milieu, either outwardly manifested or
lying latent within contemporary existence. Ultimately, the effect this
exhibition aims to achieve through consciousness of form (exhibition and
performance) is to stir up visitors who have long been in the habit of
leisurely viewing exhibitions, jangling their nerves and their spirits, and
placing them in a state of unease, excitation, suspension and bemusement. It
aims to pose questions regarding the media and materials of contemporary art,
the relationship between viewer and artist, and the social and public nature of
art environments. The exhibition goes until September 17th.

*Exhibition: Arena
*Date: 2017. 07. 08 ~ 09. 17
*Venue: Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei