Young-Jae Lee: Forms from the Earth
1 November – 21 December 2024
David Nolan Gallery
24 East 81 Street, New York

David Nolan Gallery is pleased to present a retrospective of the ceramicist Young-Jae Lee (b. 1951, Seoul, Korea; based in Germany since 1972); it is the artist's first New York exhibition in over 20 years.

Having emigrated to Germany in the 1970s (and since 1987 helming an est.-1924 Weimar-era ceramics workshop in Essen), Lee reimagines the Bauhaus legacy of classic design for the people, while adding to it the elegant and functional forms of her native Korea. Lee's experience being raised in a traditional Confucian and Buddhist family have greatly influenced her work to this day.

Said David Nolan: "Lee humbly refers to herself as a ‘potter’, though her vessels easily stand alongside other works of art in terms of their radiance, complexity, and sublimity. They are highly aesthetic works of art that need no embellishment—they are profound in their simplicity. In this way, Young-Jae Lee integrates within herself the Eastern potter and the Western artist; maintaining the balance between the aesthetics of form and function, between emotion and intellectuality, between ancient craft and modern artistry. Lee brings a high degree of sensitivity, humanity, and a quiet love that shapes everything she touches."

The retrospective Young-Jae Lee: Forms from the Earth will feature open stoneware bowls and tall pots, including Lee’s ‘spindle vases,’ where two bowls, made separately, are joined together in a way which is similar to placing the open palm of one hand over another. Lee reassembles these into one elegant form in the classic Korean tradition.

More information is in the above-linked press release, and a preview of works on view is below. See the Dropbox folder linked above to download high-resolution image files. Artwork information is in each image’s file title. Image reuse must be credited as “courtesy of David Nolan Gallery and copyright of the artist”, unless otherwise noted in the file title.