It’s a modern art exhibition that’s as contemporary as the smartphones in our hands. Reinterpretations of classics, so imaginative and post-modern, that calling them a sign of the times, for once, would be an apt description.
As celebrated Korean media artist Lee Lee Nam’s exhibition opened to a rousing reception at Katara Art Centre — powered by Asan Gallery Korea — the thought-stirring amalgamations of today’s high-tech environment and yesterday’s traditional culture memories swept the throng of visitors with full force in UHD clarity.
Known for his distinct style of video art that breathes new life into famous classic paintings, Lee Lee Nam’s work draws us deep into his creative and imaginative video art world, where things move and so do our emotions. Lee Nam’s gripping video works “juxtapose European old master paintings and traditional Asian art with modern day imagery.”
Be it the achingly nostalgic traditional Korean ink painting masterpieces or Western classics such as Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring — the artist extracts our sympathy by introducing tears — Lee Nam’s retelling of the master works via 21stcentury video art is irresistibly good.
The exhibition, which is underway at Building 5 of Katara Art Centre until February 14, is a major step ahead for cultural ties between Korea and Qatar, said Heung-Kyeong Park, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Qatar. “Just the way Lee Nam’s work tries to expand space by letting things move across a series of screens and by exploring the limits of imagination, I feel this exhibition, too, expands our mutual understanding,” Park told Community, “It’s a new starting point that I would like to facilitate for cultural exchange between our two countries.”
Park pointed out that most visitors, including many dignitaries, found the exhibition to be “totally different” from what they have been seeing. “They said they would like to bring their children and friends here. I am happy to see such positive excitement among people of Qatar,” he said, “Lee Nam tries to revive old masterpieces in a modern space. By doing so, he draws something from deep inside of us. For instance, the small cottages in one painting look like my house when I was a child. I think he takes us to some warm place in our memory.”
Eternally busy meeting guests and posing for photographers, all through the evening Lee Nam could be seen clutching two things — his cell phone, and a remote control. With the latter, the artist could routinely call the shots on the volume and picture control of all the TVs affixed vertically across the hall that continually display his work like some space fantasy machine on loop. Community sat the Korean maverick down for a chat:
 
By using video to lend life to still paintings, it seems like you instinctually desire to see things move. Why do you like movement in images?
If an image is still and there’s nothing more to it, it’s fine, too. But if some elements within it could move, the image then catches people’s attention and compels them to concentrate more. It makes something inside them move. It touches them. Through media art, I manage to give some life and vitality to static images.
 
Was there something in particular that inspired you to take this direction in your art practice?
Once, when I went to university to teach students, majoring in animation, I saw the kind of ideas they were working on. I was quite inspired by it. So I decided that it would be really nice if I could draw some inspiration of this media work into my artwork. I thought it could help me lend vitality and excitement to the world of paintings.
 
Why do you feel the need to use various screens that are placed vertically in succession and have birds from one painting fly across the others?
Just imagine if the birds are confined to one frame and one screen. It’s not that interesting because it’s quite normal. But when a bird moves through screens, that movement attracts attention. That’s my intention. I want to make the viewer more interested in the paintings. By working on images from classic paintings, I want to make contemporary art friendlier for the people.
 
You have reinterpreted Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci with aerial bombardment and destruction all over the frame. In places where the bombs go off, garlands of flower bloom. What was the thought behind this?
Mona Lisa is a symbol of classic art and also represents the dignity of the art museum. I wanted to make a point that a masterpiece like Mona Lisa will not emerge anymore. The bombs going off all over Mona Lisa represents recreating the classic art in modern ways. Mona Lisa is like a seed. When it meets death, new value and culture generate from it. Modern art creates something that didn’t exist before. It’s very refreshing. Meanwhile, the underlying core idea behind this work is that when I first saw Mona Lisa’s smile, I thought of the strong countries of the world — just like them, her smile seems peaceful, but behind it you can see that it’s fake. They are making wars and are making money with it. That’s what it represents. Hence, the bombs are going off everywhere.
 
Tell us about the process that starts from a thought and ends with the execution.
There isn’t a fixed idea or object that I know I want to make. Usually, I collect some information on everything I think, I see, I read, I feel, and some day, I look at all disparate elements and find motivation and inspiration from them. I bring them to media and I turn it into one cohesive work of art. I use Adobe Photoshop and Adobe After Effects to realise those images in my head.
 
Your work blends Eastern and Western cultures, the old and the new eras. You deal a lot with contrasts. What about it interests you?
Cultural exchange constantly happens in front of us. However, my art shows a royal princess wearing a Korean traditional dress or the Korean beauty togged in royal attire of the old days. These two women belong to different eras. So that is not possible, right? But I find it fascinating that I can make it possible through my work. I want to create something new that no-one has tried before.
 
Most of your work reinterprets the classics. Have you ever faced criticism for doing so?
When I had an exhibition in the Korean national museum, one staff scolded me — why do you change our traditional oriental paintings into something else? But I have continued doing my work in media art because it has limitless possibilities and great potential.
 
For you, what’s the best part about creating this art?
I feel the utmost satisfaction to know that I created something that didn’t exist before. The originality of it is what pleases me most.