Mike Lee USA, b. 1983

Mike Lee (b. 1983, Placentia, CA) is a contemporary visual artist, whose works achieve a balance between figuration and abstraction by simplifying his subjects to their most essential forms. Lee, through his monochrome figures with no detail and specificity, creates a visual language that appeals to the universality and complexity of human experiences and emotions. 

 

Influenced by his professional experience in digital media, Lee’s compositions possess a strong graphic aesthetic, creating the impression of a digitally rendered landscape. By adapting the baroque chiaroscuro technique, Lee uses strong contrast between light and dark to convey an intense sense of drama and volume within his simplified subjects. These figures and objects are often derived from basic geometric forms, enabling Lee to both emphasize the chiaroscuro effect and mirror the universality of the experience he wishes to convey. Though the artist’s current practice is evolving closer to the boundary of abstraction, his works maintain emotional intensity, revealing connections between personal narratives and the universal human experience. 

 

Mike Lee received his BFA in 2006 from Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA, USA. The artist’s work has been exhibited in galleries across New York, Los Angeles, and Tokyo, including solo exhibitions at Half Gallery and ATM Gallery in New York, Amala Gallery in Tokyo, Japan, and many more. He also participated in group exhibitions at Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, California, the Honolulu Museum of Art in Honolulu, Hawaii, and the Vincent Price Art Museum in Los Angeles, California, and many more. 

 

Lee currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, USA.