“Love Story of Sooil Lee and Soonae Shim” (2011) is part of his “Tales of Drunken Journey to Pubyok Pavilion” series, a photographic work that reinterprets Kim Si-seup’s 15th-century tale “Intoxicated by Wine in the Pavilion, Flowing on Greenish Blue,” against the backdrop of old ink landscape paintings of Pyongyang during the Joseon dynasty. Lee takes this fantasy love story motif, which crosses the boundary of two worlds against the backdrop of the Bubyeok Pavilion (Pavilion Flowing on Greenish Blue), in Pyongyang, and reconstructs North Korea of the past and present, expressing the dilemma brought on by the history of the division and the regime’s characteristics in a humoristic manner. In this work, thousands of soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army of the North watch the movie of the same title (Love Story of Sooil Lee and Soonae Shim, 1965) produced in South Korea all the while paradoxically infatuated with the capitalistic culture that stands in contrast to the North Korean regime.
Lee Sang Hyun (b. 1954) received his bachelor’s degree in sculpture and Meisterschuler in multimedia from Hochschule der Kunste Berlin. Lee has held numerous solo and group exhibitions including “Tapacementor: Time+Space+Movement” at the Total Museum of Contemporary Art in 1988; “The History of Salt Dessert & Telematic Nomad” at Gana Insa Art Center in 2000; “Nine Clouds Dream” at Gallery SUN Contemporary in 2007; “Empire and Joseon” at the Museum of Photography, Seoul in 2008; “Three Thousands Court Ladies” at Gallery SUN Contemporary in 2009; and “Tales of Drunken Journey to Pubyok Pavilion” at Gallery SUN Contemporary in 2012. He is the recipient of the 5th Kim Sejung Young Sculptor Award in 1994 and Hanmi Photography Award in 2005.
After Lee Sang Hyun returned from Germany in the late 1980s he began to draw attention at home and abroad through his installation works and performances. After he performed in the movie “Lies” (directed by Jang Sun-woo, 1999) as the main character, he began to expand his artistic realm to include photography and video. He has actively utilized creative digital composite techniques in the attempt to realize unrealistic images where past and present, reality and illusion coexist. Through such work, Lee has managed to reveal insight that breaks away from conventional notions, while pointing out the vulgarized aspects of modern society.
