Lee Bae focuses on the expressive potential of charcoal as a medium. Over the course of three decades, Lee has dedicated himself to creating a diverse range of iterations of Korean painting through his use of charcoal and abstract forms that are self-sufficient and rich in spiritual and energetic qualities. By exploring immanent notions such as yielding, respiring, and circulation, which are embodied by charcoal as a material, Lee's work resonates with themes of life and death, absence and presence, light and shadow, form, and emptiness. Lee's oeuvre spans a wide range of mediums and forms, from drawings to canvas-based works, as well as installations, with each new work serving to expand upon his unique vision and approach. Lee’s works have been featured at museums and institutions worldwide including: Phi Foundation, Montreal, Canada; Indang Museum, Daegu; Wilmotte Foundation, Venice; Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul de Vence; Musée des Beaux-Arts, Vannes; and Musée Guimet, Paris. Among many others, Lee’s work is in the permanent collections of museums including the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Gwacheon; Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul; Leeum-Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul; Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul de Vence; Musée Guimet, Paris; Baruj Foundation, Barcelona, and Privada Allegro Foundation, Madrid.

Founded in 1989, Johyun Gallery seeks to define the present and future of Korean art within critical and historical frameworks of global contemporary art. The gallery has presented exhibitions by Korea’s leading postwar and Dansaekhwa artists including Park Seo-Bo, Yun Hyong-keun and Kim Chong Hak, supported influential mid-career artists such as Lee Bae, Lee Dongi and Jongsuk Yoon, and fostered emerging talents like Ahn Jisan, Kang Kang- Hoon and Lee So Yeun. In tandem with developing its core program of Korean artists, the gallery has also introduced domestic audiences to eminent international artists including Joseph Beuys, Pierre Soulages, Claude Viallat, Yayoi Kusama, Jin Meyerson and Bosco Sodi. In addition to mounting 10 exhibitions per year across two locations in Busan, Johyun Gallery has bolstered its regional presence with appearances at major art fairs throughout Asia and is poised for a breakout on the global stage in 2022.