David Choong Lee Crafts Lush, Abstract Worlds in New Mixed-Media Works

By Andy Smith

Korea-born artist David Choong Lee made a notable shift from realism to abstraction in recent years, his new work containing lush, vibrant landscapes and otherworldly figures. An upcoming show at Jonathan Levine Projects, titled “Gravity,” offers new works from the San Francisco art scene vet. The show kicks off April 1 and runs through April 29.

The gallery says that although he’s been around for decades, he’s just “getting started” in a new chapter of his career. “Unlike his past realistic figurative work, his new imagery stems entirely from his imagination and is the result of laborious studies: painting and rearranging over and over to develop a new visual vocabulary,” the gallery says.

These new works are created with acrylics, latex and aerosol paint. The result is a visual language that moves between the geometric and the seemingly organic. The artist has said this, when reflecting on audience interpretation of these current works: “When someone understands one of these paintings, it’s like they’re hugging me really deep from inside,” he said.

Originally featured on Hi-Fructose