Lee Kang Wook redefines the materiality of the pictorial plane through a new approach to painting. Using grains of rice, lines, and geometry, he investigates the visual structures preceding images, asking not what painting shows, but how it is seen.
Exhibitions 《1mm Border》, 2025.03.08 – 2025.07.31, PLACE C
Lee Kang Wook’s solo exhibition will be held at PLACE C from March 8 to July 31, 2025. Known for exploring the mysteries of the universe through geometric forms and vibrant color palettes, Lee presents a total of 140 works in this exhibition, including the newly introduced ‘White Gesture’ series and a monumental 20-meter-long painting.
2025.03.07
Exhibitions 《Shifting Colors》, 2022.03.17 – 2022.04.10, GANA Art Busan
GANA Art Busan will present Lee Kang Wook’s solo exhibition 《Shifting Colors》 from March 17 to April 10. This exhibition marks the artist’s first solo presentation in Busan and features approximately 40 works from the ‘The Gesture’ and ‘Invisible Space’ series.
2022.03.16
Exhibitions 《Shifting Shapes and Shades》, 2021.08.26 – 2021.10.31, Mugaksa LOTUS Gallery
Beginning from the microscopic world of cells and extending toward the paradoxical concept of the macroscopic universe, the solo exhibition of Lee Kang-uk, professor at Hongik University, titled 《Shifting Shapes and Shades》, will be held at LOTUS Gallery, Mugaksa Temple, in Gwangju, from August 26 (Thu) to October 31 (Sun).
2021.08.25
Exhibitions 《Invisible Space》, 2014.04.05 – 2014.04.26, Tokyo Gallery
Tokyo Gallery + BTAP announces《Invisible Space》, a solo exhibition by South Korean artist Kang Wook Lee opening Saturday 5 April. Born in 1976, Lee Kang Wook obtained his master’s degree in oil painting from Hongik University in 2003 and has gone on to exhibit actively both within South Korea and overseas.
2014.04.04
Activities World-Renowned Spanish Art Market “ARCOmadrid” Opens
A 30-minute drive from central Madrid brings visitors to IFEMA (Institución Ferial de Madrid), a vast, state-of-the-art exhibition complex whose cutting-edge architecture stands in stark contrast to the historic character of the Spanish capital. From the 15th, for five days, Halls 7 and 9 host “ARCOmadrid”, one of the world’s leading international contemporary art fairs.
2007.02.15
Activities [People, People] Grand Prize Winner of the 24th JoongAng Fine Arts Competition, Lee Kang Wook
Lee Kang Wook (26), who won the Grand Prize at the 24th JoongAng Art Competition, repeatedly emphasized the word “again,” saying that he would take this award as motivation to work even harder. With his bright expression and slender build giving him a boyish impression, he has nevertheless maintained a firm conviction about painting, stating clearly—despite his gentle appearance—that “painting is a personal story of the artist.”
2002.09.17
Activities “Fabriano” Art Collection with Artist Kangwook Lee
The collaboration artwork between the Fabriano team, known for participating in the art collections of renowned museums such as the Louvre and the Metropolitan Museum with works by world-famous artists like Picasso and Monet, and a Korean artist Lee Kang Wook, has been released for the first time.
2020
Activities Artist Lee Kang Wook Named First Recipient of the ‘Samdoo Art Award’
The first recipient of the ‘Samdoo Art Award’, established by the Ulsan-based company Samdoo Engineering to support the development of local arts, has been selected as artist Lee Kang Wook, a native of Ulsan and professor in the Department of Painting at Hongik University. The prize includes an award of 20 million KRW and a solo exhibition to be held at Art Nasal in Seosaeng from January 27 to February 26 next year.
2022.12.01
Criticisms Lee Kang Wook's "Phases" Neutralizing His Art
Lee Kang Wook's paintings are ornamental and, when lit, glitter brightly like gems. His painting is tender and slightly pale in its pastel tones, provoking a feeling of coldness. The sensuous, sinuous lines congregate at one point and then spread out all of a sudden. Its imagery as a whole is tidy, orderly and urban, yet also feminine.
2005
Criticisms On Lee Kang Wook’s Painting – A Representation of Sensuous Illusions
An atom is nothing but an assumption for our convenience. It does not exist in reality. What is present is nothing but an idiosyncratic feature in the same physical continuity. Atoms are the conceptualization of the spirit isolating matter from all attributes of beings. In fact, the spirit makes all beings remain in a complete, independent four-dimensional world. As if surrounded by a myriad of mirrors, what makes a reflection by these singular atoms is none other than a sensuous illusion. (Gaston de Pawlowski, Travel to a Four-dimensional Space, ed. Images Modernes, 1923, pp. 104–105)
2022.12.01
Criticisms In Pursuit of 'Invisible Space'
It is a special moment to write the forward to an artist’s very first exhibition. It feels like giving a newborn child its name, while at the same time being a mediator in the sense of presenting the artist’s works to the world for the first time by interpreting their visual images in words. As there are no existing references, it allows the writer to have a free hand, yet the responsibility is also heavy.
2002
