Austin Lee
Austin Lee (born 1983) is an American artist based in New York. Lee's airbrush paintings often combine digital technologies with traditional media.[1] He also works in sculpture and video.
Early life and education[edit]
Lee was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, and raised in Philadelphia. He received an MFA in painting from Yale School of Art in 2013 and a BFA in painting from Tyler School of Art in 2006.
While a student at the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, Lee's studio doubled as a gallery space where he organized group and solo exhibitions to promote his artistic community.[2] After attending Yale for his MFA, Lee moved to New York in 2013.[2]
Work[edit]
Lee once defined himself "a computer nerd as well as an artist."[1] The use of digital platforms and technologies offer him the opportunity to work against the tradition of painting: Lee transitioned from using Adobe Photoshop in his early work to adopting the Oculus Rift's virtual-reality program Medium as an imaginary studio.[3] He then transfers the V.R. drawings to the canvas through the use of the airbrush and the paintbrush.[3] As a result of this technique, the final paintings are very luminous and evoke both the light of a computer screen and the intense coloration of color field painting.[4] Lee investigates how different types of human gestures and touch – both digitally rendered and organic – can affect viewers.[5]
The artist sources his subjects from his daily life: people who attract his attention on the subway or the internet, scenes of ordinary activities, animals, and flowers.[6] Many of Lee's works evoke the emojis that have become part of everyday conversation.[6] However, by confronting the viewer with familiar images, his works explore the dichotomy of contemporary phenomena, such as social media, that carry both positive and negative effects.[7]
Further exploiting the possibilities offered by the world of V.R., Lee has also created a series of sculptures that give form to his digital drawings with the use of a 3D printer.[6] While at first glance, the subjects of these sculptures appear joyful and soothing, the distortions of forms attribute a disturbing note to their flashy cheerfulness.[4]
Lee's work entertains a dialogue with the work of artists from older generations.[8] While the effortlessness of Alex Katz's paintings has certainly influenced him, the use of new technology in David Hockney's iPad Drawings and Cindy Sherman's Instagram self-portraits likewise resonates in Lee's works.[8]
Art critic Will Heinrich at The New York Times affirmed, “Austin Lee's analog portraits of cyberspace are strangely fascinating."[9] Jeffrey Deitch has compared Lee's practice to Pop Art, “As Andy Warhol used photo silkscreens to connect painting with the image-making technologies of the 1960s, Lee fuses digital techniques with traditional painting and sculptural processes to create totally contemporary works of art."[4]
Exhibitions[edit]
Solo exhibitions[edit]
- Human Nature, M WOODS Museum, Beijing, 2022
- American Psyche, Austin Lee & Mark Thomas Gibson, Carl Kostyál, Stockholm, 2021[10]
- Paradise, Carl Kostyál in collaboration with KALEIDOSCOPE, Spazio Maiocchi, Milan, Italy, 2019[11]
- Feels Good, Jeffrey Deitch, New York City, 2019[12][13]
- Constant Joy, Mosaic Art Foundation, Istanbul, 2019[14]
- Tomato Can, Peres Projects, Berlin, 2018[15][16]
- Serious Works, Kaikai Kiki, Tokyo, 2017[17]
- Light Paintings, BANK, Shanghai, 2016[18]
- Anxiety, New Galerie, Paris, 2016[19]
- Nothing Personal, Postmasters Gallery, New York, 2015[20]
- NO FAIR, Isbrytaren, Carl Kostyál, Stockholm, 2015[21]
- Me Art, Kaleidoscope, Milan, 2015
- Mixed Feelings, Carl Kostyál, London, 2014[22]
- OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK, Postmasters Gallery, New York, 2014[23]
Selected group exhibitions[edit]
- Punch, Curated by Nina Chanel Abney, Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles, 2019[24]
- Punch, Curated by Nina Chanel Abney, Jeffrey Deitch, New York, 2018[25]
- Summer Show, Carl Kostyál, Stockholm, 2017[26]
- The Second Self, Peres Projects, Berlin, 2017[27]
- For Pete’s Sake, Carl Kostyál, Stockholm, 2016[28]
- Full of Peril and Weirdness: Painting as a Universalism, M Woods, Beijing, 2015[29]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Ogilvy, Flora Alexandra (December 28, 2016). "Of El Greco and Emoticons: An Interview With Artist Austin Lee". Artnet News. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
- ^ a b Zuri, Afrodet (March 21, 2019). "Studio Visit: Austin Lee". Cool Hunting. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
- ^ a b Indrisek, Scott (March 13, 2019). "Austin Lee's Feel-Good Art Is More Complicated Than It Seems". Garage Magazine. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
- ^ a b c "Austin Lee: Feels Good". Jeffrey Deitch. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
- ^ Miao, Zijin (2016). "Austin Lee". Artforum.
- ^ a b c Zuri, Afrodet (March 21, 2019). "Studio visit: Austin Lee". Cool Hunting. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
- ^ Tauer, Kristen (March 6, 2019). "Austin Lee Mounts Solo Exhibition 'Feels Good' at Jeffrey Deitch". WWD. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
- ^ a b Indrisek, Scott (March 13, 2019). "Austin Lee's Feel-Good Art Is More Complicated Than It Seems". Garage Magazine. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
- ^ Heinrich, Will (April 26, 2019). "Spring Gallery Guide: SoHo". The New York Times. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
- ^ "American Psyche – Carl Kostyál". Retrieved 2022-01-19.
- ^ "Paradise – Carl Kostyál". Retrieved 2022-01-19.
- ^ Tauer, Kristen (6 March 2019). "Austin Lee Mounts Solo Exhibition 'Feels Good' at Jeffrey Deitch". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
- ^ "Into: Austin Lee's Uncynical Day-Glo Sculptures at Jeffery Deitch". Interview. 28 March 2019. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
- ^ "Austin Lee: Constant Joy". Retrieved December 6, 2019.
- ^ "INTERVIEW: Austin Lee, Tomato Can" (PDF). January 16, 2018. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
- ^ Radley, Jack (February 16, 2017). "Exhibition // Austin Lee's 'Tomato Can' at Peres Projects".
- ^ Murakami, Takashi. "SERIOUS WORKS: AUSTIN LEE".
- ^ "AUSTIN LEE, "Light Paintings," BANK MABSOCIETY, Shanghai". Ran Dian.
- ^ "Austin Lee, Anxiety". New Galerie.
- ^ "AUSTIN LEE: Nothing Personal". Postmasters.
- ^ Andersson Åsman, Klara (March 14, 2015). "No Fair: Austin Lee at Isbrytaren". Radar.
- ^ "Austin Lee: Mixed Feelings". Carl Kostyál.
- ^ "AUSTIN LEE: OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK OK". Postmasters.
- ^ "Punch, Curated by Nina Chanel Abney, Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles".
- ^ "Punch, Curated by Nina Chanel Abney, Jeffrey Deitch, New York".
- ^ "Call me – Carl Kostyál". Retrieved 2022-01-19.
- ^ "The Second Self".
- ^ "For Pete's Sake – Carl Kostyál". Retrieved 2022-01-19.
- ^ "Heart of the Tin Man".