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Exhibitions  >  Heroes and Protagonists

Heroes and Protagonists

(010)
OCT 26, 2024–JAN 12, 2025
GOBI
1017 N Madison Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90029
About the Exhibition

GOBI is pleased to present the first overseas solo exhibition of Seoul-based artist Yoonjeong Lee, Heroes and Protagonists, comprising works that intentionally resist singular categorization and traverse between art, furniture, and domestic objects. Uncovering the underlying mechanisms that activate our interactions with objects, Lee creates a universe where the presence of supporting roles are considered as crucial as their leads. The functionality in Lee’s works serve as a device to complicate traditional hierarchies relating to an object’s role and purpose. In other words, Lee’s works, which may at first glance be recognized for their commonly perceived function, reveal the inner-workings of objects and pays tribute to the invisible forces that are vital to their existence.

Observed throughout Lee’s works are various types of metals such as aluminum, iron, and brass. Lee’s way of reimagining objects often involves melting and reforming metals, temporarily activating the atomic structure through heat and disrupting the neat packing of the atoms in its previous state as raw materials. Contrary to its label, there is nothing “raw” about raw materials; rather, they are processed in factories to increase efficiency and ease industrial intervention. As Lee dismantles an existing system within the material – one that prioritizes efficiency and ease, she is also creating a new system for the metallic atoms to coexist – one that complicates and prompts questions. These newly imagined forms that make apparent the reorganization (of atoms) become elements to her sculptures, initiating yet another reorganization (of hierarchies).

This process of reorganizing is extended through Lee’s play on visibility – a key indicator of what is dominant in a dominant-subordinate relationship. In Share-Holders (sofa), the supporting structures of the upholstery are exposed, facing guests as they enter the exhibition. The embellished metal buttons and fasteners in combination with the dynamic tension of strapping bring attention to the active role of the sofa’s support system. In Share-Holders (frames), the hooks suspending the frame on the wall exhibit themselves alongside the photograph, while in Mycota (vases), the vessel stands taller than the flowers it holds. Lee’s consideration of the subordinates is emphasized through the materiality of Mycota, where she creates tiny metal particles that join together to create a mass and through the construction of Chaining, where she sculpts small metal rings that connect to create height. By magnifying and visualizing the smallest unit of structure, she reminds viewers that there is no dominant without the subordinate.

With Lee’s approach to uplift supporting roles, the aim is not to undermine the dominant role but to suggest its reciprocal part as equally important. In this dynamic, neither roles are diminished; rather, the roles of objects are presented laterally in the hierarchy of functionality and through reshaping, exposing, puncturing, magnifying and re-centering, Lee imagines a world of heroes and protagonists.

Yoonjeong Lee is a Seoul based artist questioning the state of and criteria behind the dominant and the subordinate. By reimagining expected forms of quotidian functional objects – such as nails, hooks, chains, stationery, and furniture – Lee’s work disrupts hierarchies and categorizations that permeate in everyday objects and presents new perspectives on conventional value systems.

All works are available for purchase. For more information or inquiries, please email hello@gobi.la

Video by David 진호 Wynn
Floral arrangements by PUL Flower