IL Lee

IL LEE is best known for his pioneering work with ballpoint pen that he began more than 30 years ago and continues today. Lee’s recent oil on canvas work and new prints bring the viewer back to his early investigations of materials and process that began decades ago. Lee’s oeuvre offers a great breadth of approaches and media as he investigates drawing, the negative and its positive, line and form and of what is rendered and what is there but not rendered. Lee’s monolithic focus has created a universe at once cohesive and yet still expanding in all directions.

Critically acclaimed and widely exhibited, IL Lee's innovative and historically grounded ballpoint pen work has been the subject of a mid-career retrospective at the San Jose Museum of Art and solo exhibitions at the Queens Museum of Art, the Vilcek Foundation in New York, and the Crow Collection of Asian Art in Dallas, Texas. His work has, also, been exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Brooklyn Museum, the Smithsonian Museum of Art and the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea.

Il Lee’s advancement of the language of contemporary abstraction is well documented in books, magazine publications, and other news media. The best-selling textbook Drawing: A Contemporary Approach places Lee’s work in the context of 20th Century trends in drawing along with other major contemporary artists. 

© Art Projects International

For the full Artist Biography, download the PDF below.

IL LEE

• Born in Seoul, Korea. Lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

EDUCATION

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

PUBLICATIONS / CATALOGUES

• Leffingwell, Edward. IL LEE: New Vision – Ballpoint Drawings. Exhibition catalogue, reproductions. New York: Art Projects International, 2010.
• Farver, Jane, Yu Jin Hwang, and Judy Kim. Faces & Facts: Contemporary Korean Art in New York. Exhibition catalogue, reproductions. New York: Korean Culture Service NY, 2009.
• Kleinberg, Joanna. IL LEE: Ballpoint Drawings. Exhibition brochure, reproduction. New York: Queens Museum of Art, 2007.
• Northrup, JoAnne, and Edward Leffingwell. IL LEE: Ballpoint Abstractions. Exhibition catalogue, reproductions. Foreword by Susan Landauer. San Jose: San Jose Museum of Art, 2007.
• Bakke, Erik. IL LEE: New Work. Exhibition brochure, reproductions. New York: Art Projects International, 2006.
• Thompson, Cynthia. Above & Beneath. Exhibition brochure, reproductions. Memphis, TN: Memphis College of Art, 2006.
• Wei, Lilly. Paris-NewYork: IL LEE. Exhibition catalog, reproductions. New York: Korean Cultural Service NY, 2005.
• Gould, Philip. Il Lee: New Drawings and Paintings. Exhibition catalogue, reproductions. New York: Art Projects International, 2004.
• Kotik, Charlotta and Tumelo Mosaka. Open House: Working in Brooklyn. Exhibition catalog, reproduction. New York: Brooklyn Museum of Art, 2004.
• Sale, Teel and Claudia Betti. Drawing: A Contemporary Approach, 5th edition. Reproduction. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2004. (also 6th edition, 2008)
• Sanders, Jung Lee, ed. Art Projects International: Ten Years Reproductions. New York: Art Projects International, 2003.
• Gould, Philip. Contemporary Korean Painting. Exhibition catalogue, reproduction. Bronxville, NY: Sarah Lawrence College, 1982.
• Work on Paper by Lee, Il. Exhibition catalog, reproductions. Seoul: Space Art Gallery, 1982.
• Baro, Gene. Korean Drawing Now. Exhibition catalogue, reproduction. New York: Brooklyn Museum, 1981.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY / REVIEWS

• Buckle, Carrie. “A Perfect Match.” Harper’s Bazaar Interiors, October/November 2011. Reproductions.
• "Conversation with Il Lee." Interview with Il Lee, Jane DeBevoise, Jung Lee Sanders, and Ali Van. Asian Art Archive in America (New York), February 9, 2011. Reproductions.
• Kim, Myoung-Soo. “Il Lee at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.” Maeil Business Newspaper (Seoul), March 19, 2011. Reproductions.
• Jung, Hyung Mo. “Creating Light with Ballpoint Pen, the Cosmic Beauty.” JoongAng Sunday (Seoul), March 13, 2011. Reproduction.
• Seo, Jung-Hyun. “Finding Zen Through Line.” Newsweek Korea (Seoul), March 4, 2011. Reproductions.
• Beshkin, Abigail. “IL LEE, M.F.A.’82, Artist.” Gateway (Pratt Institute, New York), Eye On Alumni, vol. 21, no. 2, November 2010. Reproductions.
• Mora, Patricia. “Top Summer Shows You Can Still Catch, North and South.” The Huffington Post, September 8, 2010. Review, reproduction.
• Miller, Tanya. “Review of New Vision: Ballpoint Drawings by Il Lee at the Crow Collection of Asian Art.” Dallas Art News, August 31, 2010. Review, reproduction.
• Brody, David. “Contrapuntal Infinitudes: Il Lee at Art Projects International.” artcritical (New York), June 19, 2010. Review, reproduction.
• Simek, Lucia. “Il Lee’s Large Ballpoint Pen Drawings Harness a Powerful Quiet.” D Magazine (Dallas), June 7, 2010. Review, Reproductions.
• Gaynor, Emily. “Emily Gaynor on IL LEE: Small Works 2001-2010 at Art Projects International.” The Drawing Center News, The Bottom Line (New York), March 30, 2010. Review, reproduction.
• Abatemarco, Michael. "Painting with Paper Mates." Pasatiempo (Santa Fe), August 7-13, 2009. Cover article, reproductions.
• Chung, Joon Mo. “Il Lee.” Shindonga (Seoul), September 2008. Reproductions.
• Lee, Sun-Hwa. “Il Lee at the Vilcek Foundation, New York.” Art in Culture (Seoul), July 2008. Review, reproductions.
• Museums: Exhibitions in the Americas. Art Asia Pacific Almanac 2008 (New York), vol. 3, 2008.
• Voelz Chandler, Mary. “Captivating Simplicity.” Rocky Mountain News (Denver), January 9, 2008. Reproduction.
• Grant, Michael. "Best Art Shows 2007." Metroactive (Silicon Valley), December 19, 2007.
• Genocchio, Benjamin. “Queens Museum of Art; ‘IL LEE: Ballpoint Drawings.’” The New York Times, September 7, 2007.
• Clarkson, Lamar. “A Few Good Pens.” ARTnews, (New York), September 2007. Reproduction.
• Nam, Jeongho. "Snowflakelike Ink Recalls a Distant Constellation, Foliage, or Stones." Joongang Ilbo, (Seoul), August 13, 2007. Reproduction.
• “Il Lee,” The New Yorker, New York, August 13, 2007.
• Genocchio, Benjamin. “To See the World in Ballpoint Pen,” The New York Times, review, reproduction, New York, August 10, 2007.
• “Il Lee: Ballpoint Drawings,” Time Out New York, New York, July 26, 2007.
• Baker, Kenneth. “Ballpoint Abstractions in San Jose.” San Francisco Chronicle, review, reproduction, San Francisco, July 7, 2007.
• “New This Month in U.S. Museums,” artnet, New York, July 1, 2007.
• Chung, Joon Mo. “Il Lee at San Jose Museum of Art,” Wolgan Misool, reproduction, Seoul, vol. 268, May 2007.
• Van Zandt, Jack. “Ballpoint Abstractions,” San Jose Inside, review, San Jose, April 12, 2007.
• Wykes, Sara. “Beauty in Ballpoint: Distinctive Doodles by Il Lee are Collected in an Impressive Exhibit at S.J. Museum of Art.” The Mercury News, review, reproductions, San Jose, April 1, 2007.
• Kim, Hong Ki. “Vast Universe Drawn with Ballpoint Pen.” Art in Culture, preview, reproductions, Seoul, March 2007.
• “Il Lee Ballpoint Abstractions at the San Jose Museum of Art.” Wolgan Misool, preview, reproduction, Seoul, vol. 266, March 2007.
• Gant, Michael S. “Whirls Enough and Time: Il Lee does Wonders with a Humble Ballpoint Pen.” Metro Silicon Valley, review, reproduction, Silicon Valley, March 14-20, 2007.
• Zimmerman, Heather. “Drawn In: Artist Il Lee Puts Pen to Paper—and Canvas—in a Unique Way.” Silicon Valley Community Newspapers, review, reproduction, Silicon Valley, March 14, 2007.
• Goodman, Jonathan. “Il Lee, Chun Kwang-Young and Lee Ufan: International Abstraction, Generational Trajectories.” Art AsiaPacific, reproduction, New York, no. 51, Winter 2006.
• Leffingwell, Edward. “Il Lee at Art Projects International,” Art in America, reproduction, New York, October 2006.
• Park, Sukie. “Il Lee.” The Korea Daily, reproductions, May 17, 2006.
• Bakke, Erik. “Just what is it that makes Il Lee’s art so different, so appealing?” Art in Culture, reproductions, Seoul, vol. 7, no. 4, April 2006.
• Wei, Lilly. “Beyond the Minimal,” Art in Culture, reproduction, Seoul, vol. 7, no. 4, April 2006.
• Knowles, Carol. “Where It’s At: New York artists chart body, mind, and spirit in Above & Beneath,” Memphis Flyer, review, Memphis, March 23-29, 2006.
• Koeppel, Fredric. “Looking into Above & Beneath,” The Commercial Appeal, review, Memphis, March 10, 2006.
• Goodman, Jonathan. “Il Lee at Art Projects International,” Art AsiaPacific, review, reproduction, New York, no. 42, Fall 2004.
• Maine, Stephen. “Dateline Brooklyn,” Artnet, review, reproduction, New York, May 26, 2004.
  
• Chung, Shinyoung. “Marking: Drawings by Contemporary Artists from Korea,” Art AsiaPacific, review, New York, no. 40, Spring 2004.
• Malhotra, Priya. “A Week of Surprises,” Asian Art News, reproduction, Hong Kong, vol. 14, no. 1, January/February 2004.
• Harrison, Helen A. “All about the Delicacy and Energy of the Line,” The New York Times, review, reproduction, November 23, 2003.
• Halle, Howard. “Making a Big Scene,” BKLYN, reproduction, New York, Fall 2003.
• McNatt, Glenn. “Korean Art, with a Western Twist,” The Baltimore Sun, May 28, 2003.
• Bakke, Erik. “Il Lee, Line and Form: Drawings 1984-1996,” Space, review, reproduction on cover, Seoul, vol. 354, April 1997.
• Kingsley, April. “Il Lee/Art Projects International,” Review, review, New York, February 1, 1997.
• Guest, Robert. “Soda Bottles, a Turtle Ship and Minjung,” ARTnews, February 1994.
• Suh, Jeung Gul. Wolgan Misool, review, reproduction, Seoul, June 1993.
• Park, Woo-Chan. Space, review, reproduction, Seoul, no. 308, June 1993.
• Raynor, Vivian. “12 Korean Artists Show at Thorpe,” The New York Times, reproduction, February 16, 1986.
• “New Face: Recent 8 Drawing Works of Il Lee,” Space, Seoul, October 1982.

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

• The Vilcek Foundation, New York
• San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, California
• National Museum of Contemporary Art, Kwachon, Korea
• Total Museum, Seoul, Korea
• Han Lim Museum, De Jeon, Korea
• Hong-Ik University, Seoul, Korea
• Duk-Sung Women’s University, Seoul, Korea