Lee Kun-Yong (b. 1942, Sariwon, Korea; lives and works in Gunsan, Korea) is one of Korea’s most seminal conceptual artists, exploring the nexus between the human mind and its connection to the world. His experimental performative practice emerged in 1970s South Korea, a period where the country was marked by diminished civil rights and martial law, including civilian assembly controls and tightly scrutinised codes of social propriety. Through this period, Lee led numerous artistic responses to the political climate, creating subversive automated drawing experiments that made subtle yet identifiable comments on the authoritarian state. He continues his line of experimentation today, collaborating with new artists and bringing his messaging into the 21st century.

Lee Kun-Yong’s exhibition history includes: Experimental Art of Suwon in the 1980–1990s: It’s Not Quite That (2017), Suwon iPark Museum of Art, Suwon, Korea; As the Moon Waxes and Wanes (2016), National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, Korea (MMCA); Lee Kun-Yong in Snail’s Gallop (2014), MMCA; Korean Historical Conceptual Art 1970–80s: Jack-of-all-trades (2010), Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Ansan, Korea; Lee Kun-Yong: Logic, Life, Commonplace (1998), Fine Arts Center of The Korean Culture and Arts Foundation, Seoul, Korea; A Groping for the Identity of Korean Contemporary Art II: The Art in the ‘Reduction’ and ‘Expansion’ Period (1991), Hanwon Gallery, Seoul, Korea; Korean Contemporary Art: The Trend of the 1970s (1974), Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan; 8th Biennale de Paris (1973), Paris, France; and 15th Bienal de São Paulo (1979), São Paulo, Brazil.

His works are held in numerous public and private collections, including the Jeonbuk Museum of Art, Wanju, Korea; Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea; National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea; Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea, and The Rachofsky Collection, Dallas, USA.