A Couple - An Artist and the Muse

At first glance, Lee Byung-Ho's breathing silicone sculptures, driven by air compressors, trigger amusement in the viewer as they unexpectedly deflate or inflate. But with further observation, his works evoke empathy and deliver a psychic shock. By deconstructing and reconstructing faces, figures and body parts, Lee not only depicts social stereotypes, but exploits the resilient characteristic of the medium to give insight into societal concerns; the continual consumption and expulsion of air becomes a functional metaphor for our environment and way of life. Air, a vital source of authority that decides the movement of his sculptures, is eloquently manipulated as Lee investigates its bipolar propensity in providing life and death. In Danaid (Lot 603), Lee has appropriated a posture of Rodin's ageless sculpture of a young woman, delicately crafting the silicone into a realistic resemblance of the marble original. As the air compressor does its work, the beautiful young Danaid shrivels painfully, ageing into an exhausted old woman. In A Couple - An Artist and the Muse (Lot 602), Lee uses the same process to infuse life into Jeff Koon's marble sculpture - by providing the pair with pounding hearts. They become alive, sacrificing their immortality, manifesting the contrast between life and decay. The repetition of exhilarating suspense provoked by the creasing of the skin leads the viewer to confront their deeply denied distress over ageing and the troubled state of mind triggered by modern society.