The bowl has been significant for Young-Jae Lee since the beginning. Spindle vases – essentially more object than vase – live from their volume. Their forms are characterized by expansion and contraction, soft contours and sharp edges. Positioned with their broadest points next to each other, two bowls can be installed in various ways. The spindle vases are an amalgam of Korean ceramics, the so-called moon jars, and artificial design typical of the western world. With the spinach bowls, Lee has emancipated herself from formal precedents and her experiences and attitudes towards the reception of Korean art, whether in Europe, Japan, or in Korea itself. Her love is for the ceramics of the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910, influenced by Confucianism). Thus, her spindle vases are akin to the unique white porcelain of the period, her spinach bowls a distant echo of the spirit of the Buncheong ware of that time, an unpretentious yet powerful type of ceramics that broke with the conventions of its noble predecessors, the celadons of the Goryeo dynasty (918-1392, influenced by Buddhism).
Young-Jae Lee came to Germany in 1972 after studying at the University of Art Education in Seoul from 1968 to 1972. In Germany she studied under the ceramist Christine Tappermann, and from 1973 to 1978 she studied ceramics at the University of Applied Sciences Wiesbaden under Margot Münster and design under Erwin Schutzbach. Moreover, she completed an internship with Ralf Busz in 1976/77. She opened her first workshop in 1978 in Sandhausen near Heidelberg. From 1984 she was an artistic research assistant at the University of Kassel until she took over the Margaretenhöhe Ceramics Workshop in Essen in 1987. In addition to her individual pieces, the bowls and vases, she has developed an extensive range of tableware that can be combined in many ways in terms of shape and, above all, color according to individual tastes and needs. Young-Jae Lee has exhibited in museums and private galleries in Europe, America, Korea, and Japan. Since 1988, Galerie Fred Jahn has regularly hosted exhibitions of Young-Jae Lee's own pieces as well as tea ceramics and the dishes produced by the Margaretenhöhe Ceramics Workshop.
Die Töpferwerkstatt von Young-Jae Lee, Die Welt, 02.04.2013Vita
1951
Young-Jae Lee is born in Seoul, South Korea
1968—1972
Studies at Korean National University of Arts in Seoul
1972
Moves to Germany
1972—1973
Internship with Christine Tappermann in Wallrabenstein, Germany
1973—1978
Studied ceramics with Margot Münster and design with Erwin Schutzbach at the Fachhochschule Wiesbaden
1976—1977
Internship with Ralf Busz in Friedrichsfeld
1978—1987
Own workshop in Sandhausen near Heidelberg
1980
Awarded first prize of the Frechener Kulturstiftung
1981
Second prize of Richard Bampi Award for Young Ceramists, Osnabrück
1984—1987
Artistic and research associate at the Gesamthochschule Kassel
1987—2022
Director of the Keramische Werkstatt Margaretenhöhe GmbH, Essen
1989
Awarded the gold medal of the Bavarian State Award
1997
First Prize of Hessian State Award for the Keramische Werkstatt Margaretenhöhe
2001
Keramische Werkstatt Margaretenhöhe wins first prize of Bavarian State Award for Design and first prize of Ceramic Award Diessen
2005
First Prize of Hessian State Award for Keramische Werkstatt Margaretenhöhe
2015
Visiting professor (Summer semester) at the department of Ceramics of Art and Design at the EWHA Womans University in Seoul, Korea
2016
Doctor honoris causa of the Eugeniusz-Geppert-Academy of Fine Arts in Wroclaw, Poland
Selected Solo Shows
2024
100 Jahre Keramische Werkstatt Margaretenhöhe – Hetjens Museum, Düsseldorf
2023
Contemporary Craft, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg
2021
Vessels – Galerie Karsten Greve, St. Moritz
2020
Spinach Bowls – Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne
2019
BODIES – Young-Jae Lee – Mischanlage der Kokerei UNESCO Weltkulturerbe Zollverein, Essen
Young-Jae Lee. Emptying, Filling and Emptying – GMA Ha Jung-woong Museum of Art, Sangmu-daero, Seo-gu, Kwangju, South Korea
Young-Jae Lee. Körper zu Körper – Museum Folkwang, Essen
WerkKunst - Vessels of Young-Jae Lee – Dommuseum Hildesheim, Hildesheim
2018
Young-Jae Lee. Ceramics – Korean Cultural Center Brussels, Brussels
Young-Jae Lee. Arbeiten in Keramik Galerie Karsten Greve, Cologne
Young-Jae Lee. Ceramic Works – Galerie Karsten Greve, Paris
2017
Hingabe - Gefäße von Young-Jae Lee – Gartenpavillon des Klosters Beuerberg, Diözesanmuseums Freising
Young-Jae Lee. Gefäße – Dresden University of Fine Arts, Dresden
2016
Witness to an Ancient Truth – Pucker Gallery, Boston, MA, USA
Augenblicke – Galerie Jahn, Munich, Germany
Young-Jae Lee. Vessels – Museum of Architecture, Worclaw
Young-Jae Lee. Bowls – Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology, Krakow
Not perfect – MAK - Österreichisches Museum für angewandte Kunst, Vienna
2014
Young-Jae Lee. Gefäße – Schloss Reinbek, Reinbek
Große Schalen und Tee-Utensilien – Galerie Fred Jahn, Munich
Vessels – LWL-Industriemuseum, Schiffshebewerk Henrichenburg, Waltrop
Young-Jae Lee. Keramische Gefäße – Lippische Gesellschaft für Kunst e.V., Schloss Detmold, Detmold
2013
Young-Jae Lee and Emil Schumacher – Emil-Schumacher-Museum, Hagen
2012
Vessels - Ceramic Works by Young-Jae Lee – Zeche Zollverein, Essen, Deutschland
2011
Behältnisse: Installation von Young-Jae Lee – Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Berlin
2010
Young-Jae Lee – Kunstverein Heinsberg, Heinsberg-Unterbruch
Young-Jae Lee. Formen aus der Erde – Altana Kulturstiftung im Museum Sinclair-Haus, Bad Homburg
Young-Jae Lee – Hyundai Gallery, Seoul
2009
Young-Jae Lee 111 – Galerie DKM, Duisburg
2008
Young-Jae Lee. Spindelvase – Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich
2007
New Bowls – Galerie Elmar Weinmayr, Tokyo
2006
Young-Jae Lee. 1111 Bowls – Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich
2004
Vessels – Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen
2003
Galerie Fahnemann, Berlin
2002
Vessels – Kunststation St. Peter, Cologne
Galerie Hyundai, Seoul
1999
The Road Livings Gallery, Kobe, Japan
1997
Ceramics, Weinberg Contemporary Art, San Francisco, USA
1996
Museum for East Asian Art, Berlin
Museum for East Asian Art, Cologne
1994
Keramikmuseum, Frechen
1993
Galerie Rhomberg, Innsbruck
