Artist: Seung-Jun Lee
Exhibition title: Carrier Pigeon
Venue: Subtitled NYC, New York, US
Date: July 12 – August 4, 2024
Photography: ©Garrett Carroll / all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Subtitled NYC
Carrier Pigeon is an immersive artwork by Jun Lee. Viewers walk between four large-scale drawings surrounded on all sides by graphite illustrations meant to track a carrier pigeon’s path to maintain altitude over the course of a flight. Each drawing was produced over many days in relative isolation and condenses several weeks of Jun’s life into a multilayered, symbolically dense artifact. Taken together, we are given four images of Jun’s life and preoccupations over six months. Jun’s quasi-monastic artistic practice has yielded a unique visual language that at times asks viewers to play the role of interpreter/codebreaker. The title of the show, Carrier Pigeon, makes reference to the (until recently) widespread use of pigeons to transport messages over long distances. Jun’s interest in the bird’s historical role of transmitter of sensitive information in hostile environments, together with his own distrust of faster, modern means of communication, has turned the animal into something of a talisman. The work directs our attention to life in the city: the pace of our lives here, the dispersion of our attentions, and the occasionally dizzying degree of social integration required to maintain it all.
-Text by Bard Cash
Seung-Jun Lee is an artist and curator based in NY, Brooklyn. His work explores social and cultural themes shaped by his experiences living between Korea and America. With his main focus being large-scale drawings, Jun has exhibited in New York, Baltimore, and Korea, showcasing in venues such as Culture Lab, :iidrr, Current Space, Creative Alliance, and Zak-Eun-Mul. His contributions have been recognized in Suboart Magazine Nr. 21 and Art Spiel Magazine, notably for his co-curated show at Gallery Tutu.
