Mike Lee

Overview

Portrait of the artist, Photography by OnArt, Courtesy of Jason Haam Gallery

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Mike Lee’s (b. 1983, Placentia, CA) paintings are filled with graphic elements, highlighting his personal narrative. Lee captures a moment or situation that is linked to intrinsic human emotions. The exclusive use of grayscale combined with fractured forms in Lee’s works allows him to focus on the nostalgic quality and innocence, reflecting the way our memory works that is in constant flux in relative to the present. More recent works by the artist have been further contextualized to explore his own identity as a self, influenced by his upbringing as a second-generation immigrant in the United States. In the process, his works serve as a visual language that appeals to the concept of intimacy.

Lee’s compositions possess a strong graphic aesthetic, creating a digitally rendered impression that brings a surrealistic tone to his work. Lee uses strong contrast between the light and shadow to maintain visual intensity, revealing strong connections between his highly stylized characters and the personal narratives. The visual distance that the artist keeps, however, enhances his rightful position as an observer of his own history.

Mike Lee currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, USA after receiving 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.

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