CAPTION is pleased to present works by Yongjae Lee (b. 1991, South Korea) for the 2026 edition of Frieze Seoul. 

Lee’s artistic practice can be read through the axes of event and temporality. Creating works that can be considered both painting and meta-images, Lee articulates his methodology as meta-geurim, or ‘meta-pictorial.’ Through his continuous probing and destabilizing of Korean and Western painting traditions, his works become sites of layered, open dialogue, reverberating across medium and time. 

Lee inquires relentlessly into the layered temporalities of painting and a ‘post-original’ aesthetics, referring to the impossibility of cultural totalities in the contemporary era, along with the treatment of historical materials and archival records as units that are infinitely referenced, processed, and circulated as currency. The works on view incorporate fragments of records from the early modern period preserved in the Smithsonian Archives, which present such images as factual yet ultimately resist resolution. 

In the Gaehwa series, reconstructed photographs depicting laborers tattooed in irezumi and Emperor Gojong’s reception room are superimposed to engender a subtle tension. The series takes its name from the late 19th-century period of modernization in Korea, also referred to as the ‘Enlightenment movement,’ while simultaneously recalling its literal meaning ‘to blossom.’ 

Gaehwa 04 and Gaehwa 05 are works of a homogenous palette, derived from two photographs taken in different regions and printed around the same period (late 19th to early 20th century). Intrigued by photographs documenting the Japanese tradition of irezumi, Lee fuses disparate historical allusions to spark a dialectic charged with ambiguous tension. In Gaehwa 02, a portion of a classical Hanmun poetic couplet by the Joseon literati painter and political regent Heungseon Daewongun is inscribed onto the tattooed body of a Japanese laborer from the Meiji era. The series also includes portraits of Joseon’s final rulers, whose faces appear transcribed with irezumi. Discernible on the surface of these photographic prints are multiple overlapping strata of printed image and painted pigment, layered with the depictions of the human body and imagery engraved upon flesh. 

Beyond mere reference to tradition and archives, Lee instantiates new narratives by reinterpreting the lacunae in between. Visual indeterminacies in his oeuvre operate as generative apertures, a result of hyper-temporal gestures that complicate established histories. As such, ambiguity gives way to potentiality, continually unfolding through pictorial grammar and trace. 

Yongjae Lee (b.1991) 

Yongjae Lee’s practice explores the structure and temporality of painting. He speaks about painting through painting, creating paintings that represent other paintings. Drawing on Eastern and Western art histories, printed reproductions, and digital images as points of reference, he explores the grammar of painting and the conditions through which it takes shape. Lee regards tradition not as a fixed past, but as a heritage continuously formed and reformed through specific historical and cultural contexts. By citing and repositioning images from different periods and sources, he establishes new relationships between them and attends to what he describes as the “post-original state,” constructing narratives that extend beyond representation. His work is grounded in the methodology of the meta-picture, borrowing and transforming the structures of earlier paintings and the imagery of others. 

Through this process, painting becomes an ongoing conversation and a sustained field of research. 

ABOUT CAPTION 

CAPTION is a contemporary art gallery based in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Founded in 2023, the space presents distinct visual vernaculars and practices from Korea and abroad. Working in close alignment with its artists, it aims to foreground visionary perspectives to cultivate long-term creative trajectories through curated exhibitions, publications, and collaborative projects.Positioned as a facilitator between creators and audiences, CAPTION gathers diverse viewpoints and recontextualizes them to explore new discourses in art. The gallery serves as a vital nexus connecting artists with collectors, nurturing visions as they evolve into sustainable careers. As an experimental space unconstrained by medium or discipline, CAPTION strives to offer multi-layered artistic experiences within the dynamic landscape of contemporary art. 

Venue
Booth F07, COEX, Seoul

Artists
Yongjae Lee 

Exhibition Dates
September 2 – 5, 2026

Website
https://www.captionseoul.com/

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/caption.seoul/

Contact
info@captionseoul.com 

(Text and images courtesy of CAPTION)