Dr Edwin Smith Art Review Of Kok Wan Lee Show

Bermuda Culture of Arts [BSoA] mentioned they had “the enjoyment of a renowned artist, Dr. Edwin Smith, evaluation 1 of their latest displays by Kok Wan Lee. This will be Lee’s remaining solo exhibition on until eventually August 24, 2021.”

There are traces in all places. And with them, Kok Wan Lee has succeeded in his intention to stir thoughts.

His work, in what is billed as his last exhibition in Bermuda, held at the Bermuda Culture of Arts in August 2021, is composed of compositions with linear aspects that are drawn, scraped, and dripped. Mostly intentional gestures, at occasions delighted mishaps. Showing thick, slim, and undulating, they both of those claw at and guidance each and every other, showing as unusually inviting boundaries.

Lee’s use of line has been refined considering the fact that his Tree Collection. The very same can be mentioned of how he has picked out to use his coloration. Whilst there are no big regions of remarkable coloration as in his Deserted City exhibition, coloration gives satisfying accents in will work this sort of as the Klinesque sketches entitled Astwood in the Darkish. In the Astwood Park Collection 1 & 2, the predominant turquoise coloration is built extra attractive by the textured, layered surfaces and the refined inclusion of orange, blue, and eco-friendly.

Along with the two‐dimensional work on exhibit, there are miniature wood sculptures. The arrangements of the painted cedar branches fittingly echo the paintings. They are also reminiscent of Lee’s big installation that includes painted branches noticed some a long time in the past at an exhibition of conceptual art at the BSoA. That installation is a work that I fondly bear in mind as a grand magical creation that I would like to see Lee build extra of, but I digress.

Curiously, there appears to be much less pleasure listed here than in Lee’s very first exhibition of the very same title. Interconnectedness Collection 4, five, & 6, are playful, delighted will work, but extra existing in the home are tones of hesitancy, discovery, anticipation, and aggression. Far more moody but no much less impactful.

The strongest work on exhibit is a series of three vertical compositions on unframed plastic paper entitled Interconnectedness Collection I, 2, & 3. Showing vivid and spontaneous with light-weight traces on a dim surface, this series can be extensively interpreted as fantastical, or abstract expressionist or even as a representational illustration of dense foliage. Accentuated with leaves actually strewn on the flooring, this series is potent enough to have been showcased on the again wall on their individual, drastically giving an anchor for the exhibition.

Naming an exhibition is a challenge, as 1 wants to encapsulate the knowledge or encourage viewers desire. Often the conclusion is apparent. Lee has made use of the title Astwood Park now, in 2018. Why a Chapter 2? Artists often continue being with a topic or enthusiasm and derive what they can, in an attempt to exhaust it, right before shifting on.

Undoubtedly, Astwood Park is a preferred locale and a put of inspiration and contrasts. Along with its cove and grassy cliffside park giving coastal sights of the Atlantic is the much less visited hilltop woodland. Lee prefers the later on and has spent extra time there. Previously he has proven that he is inspired by the organic earth and landscapes. Now he mentions that the park has modified a whole lot, potentially deteriorated. I cannot aid but question if Astwood Park is a metaphor for broader adjustments and restlessness in Bermuda and past.

Undoubtedly Lee acknowledges his individual evolution. Progressively he wants to express “strong inner thoughts of pleasure, worry, sorrow, and power”. He is extra subjective and his need to share thoughts surpasses the allure of organic attractiveness. His journey is a interesting 1 to observe. I bear in mind owning him as a student, an eager learner, with very first ways adventuring from the culinary to the painterly. I applaud his reliable need to investigate possibilities.

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