Lee Heedon 이희돈
Turning to abstract painting through close exchanges with artists such as Cho Yong-Ik — a member of the first generation of Korean abstract artists who played a pivotal role in the birth of Korean contemporary art — and Chung Chang-Sup, a leading figure of Dansaekhwa (monochrome painting), Lee Hee-Don is regarded as one of the most accomplished artists among the "second generation of Dansaekhwa."
Lee Hee-Don is often known simply as a Dansaekhwa artist, but closer examination of his work reveals a distinct aesthetic difference. Where the Dansaekhwa movement began from a Korean sense of beauty, sentiment, and unique textural expression that Western-style monochrome painting could not contain, Lee Hee-Don's work goes further — centering on the performative nature of the act of making itself. Through the repetition of physical action and its resulting "accumulation," his paintings occupy a new position of meaning: an embodied record of temporality and exploration.
Particularly notable in his work is his use of dak (the raw fiber of traditional Korean paper) and a perforation technique for which he holds a patent. Made by soaking and blending mulberry-bark paper fibers, this material leaves a distinctive matière on the surface, over which he layers Korea's traditional five cardinal colors (obangsaek) — achieving an aesthetic that is at once distinctly Korean, refined and modern.
Also central to his work is the worldview of inyeonsaenggi (因緣生起, the arising of all things through interdependent causes and conditions), the root of the Yeon (因緣) series he has pursued since the 1990s. The artist hopes his paintings will be read as "a passage of the mind that awakens us to countless coexistences.
Exhibitions
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023 Yeon (緣) New Works: Rolling (인연(緣) 新作: rolling), Beaux-Arts Gallery Cheongdam, Seoul, Apr 5 – 30
2022 Lee Hee-Don Solo Exhibition, Samwon Gallery, Seoul
2022 Yeon 緣: Communicating with the World, Sungkok Art Museum, Seoul
2022 Yeon 緣: Communicating with the World, Insaartplaza Gallery, Seoul
2020 Perforation and Entanglement, Precious Yeon, Gallery Hong Ju, Ganghwa
2019 Ganghwa Studio Opening Commemorative Exhibition, Gallery Hong Ju, Ganghwa
2014 Precious Yeon, Hankyung Gallery, Seoul
2014 Solo Exhibition, Gallery AKA Space, Seoul
2014 Solo Exhibition, Sejong Gallery, Goyang
2012 Solo Exhibition, Goyang Aram Nuri Gallery, Goyang
2012 Solo Exhibition, Asan Gallery, Asan Medical Center, Seoul
2011 Solo Exhibition, Hangaram Art Museum, Seoul Arts Center, Seoul
2010 Solo Exhibition, Seoul Museum, Seoul
2010 Solo Exhibition, Beijing 798, Beijing, China
2009 Solo Exhibition, Seosan Gallery, Chungnam
2007 Solo Exhibition, Yale Gallery, Seoul
2005 Solo Exhibition, Seoul Arts Center, Uijeongbu
2002 Solo Exhibition, Chohyung Gallery, Seoul
Group Exhibitions
2024 The Spirit of Korean Contemporary Art (한국 현대미술의 정신展), group show with Kwon Ki Ja, Kim Hee-Kyung, Noh Jae-Soon, Woo Chang-Hoon, Lee Jeong-Woong, Lee Jong-Seung, Lee Ji-Su, Lee Hee-Don, Jeong Bong-Gi, Choi Soon-Min, Choi Young-Ran, and Pyo In-Sook, Beaux-Arts Gallery Cheongdam, May 11 – 30
2023–24 The Remarkable — group show with Ko Young-Hoon, Kim Jong-Hak, Kim Tschang-Yeul, Kim Whanki, Kim Heung-Soo, Park Seo-Bo, Shin Cheol, Yoon Byung-Ryak, Yun Hyong-keun, Lee Kun-Yong, Lee Bae, Lee Seok-Ju, Lee Se-Hyun, Lee Wal-Chong, Lee Ufan, Lee Hee-Don, Ju Tae-Seok, Chun Kyung-Ja, Choi Young-Wook, Ha Tae-Im, and Han Man-Young, Beaux-Arts Gallery Cheongdam, Dec 1, 2023 – Feb 3, 2024
2023 DIAF (Daegu Art Fair), Daegu
2022 Galleries Art Fair, SETEC, Seoul; PLAS Art Show, COEX, Seoul; Singapore Art Fair, Singapore
2021 KIAF, COEX, Seoul; DIAF (Daegu Art Fair), Daegu
2018 / 2017 / 2016 BIAF (Busan International Art Fair), BEXCO, Busan
2016 Hong Kong Art Fair, Hong Kong; Houston Fine Art Fair, Houston
2015 BIAF, BEXCO, Busan; 45th Gusangjeon, Seoul Arts Center, Seoul; Hong Kong Art Fair; Houston Fine Art Fair; Shanghai Art Fair; Lalit Kala Akademi, India
2014 BIAF, BEXCO, Busan; 45th Gusangjeon, Seoul Arts Center, Seoul; KIAF, COEX, Seoul; Korean Contemporary Art Painting Festival; Houston Fine Art Fair; Shanghai Art Fair; Lalit Kala Akademi, India; Art Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Hong Kong Art Fair; ART BEIJING, Beijing
2013 KIAF, COEX, Seoul; BIAF, BEXCO, Busan; SOAF, Seoul; Shanghai Art Fair; Lalit Kala Akademi, India
2012 Korea Housing–Art Collections Exhibition, COEX, Seoul; KAFA (Korea Art Festival Art Fair), Kintex; Gyeongnam Tongyeong Art Fair; DIAF, EXCO, Daegu; Affordable Art Fair Singapore; CIGE, Beijing; Qingdao Art Fair, Qingdao; Shanghai Art Fair
2011 Exhibition of Korea–China Outstanding Art of the Time, Beijing; MANIF
2010 Gallery ann330 Booth Invitation; Art Basel, Switzerland; MANIF
Prizes & Achievements
Grand Prize (최우수상), 7th Haengju Art Grand Exhibition
Special Selection, 30th Gusangjeon (Figurative Art Exhibition), 2001
Special Selection, Korea National Art Exhibition (Daehanminguk Misul Daejeon)
Jury / Committee Service:
Served as Judge, Korea National Art Exhibition; served as Steering Committee Member and Judge, Haengju Art Grand Exhibition; served as Steering Committee Member and Judge, Gusangjeon; Invited Artist, Korea National Art Exhibition; among others.
Major Collections:
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Government Art Bank); Hyowon Culture Training Center; USA Golden Color Korea Business Office; National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Art Bank); Sinchon Severance Hospital; Cheil Investment & Finance; Seoul National University Hospital; Yangpyeong County Art Museum; the National Assembly Building; Gwangju Museum of Art; and others.