Lee Geonmaan

이건만_언어의 깊이 25.09.30.6_91x73cm_acrylic paint on fabric and canvas_2025

Artist Lee Geonmaan is widely recognized for his unique approach of treating letters (characters) as painterly elements. His works are not mere texts, but rather “paintings of letters” experiments that transcend the boundaries between language and image.

이건만_너의 달콤한 말들 25.09.30.8_91x73cm_acrylic paint on fabric and canvas_2025

He transforms the act of writing into an act of painting, shifting focus from legibility to visual rhythm and structure. Through the movement of the brush, the layering of colors, and the rhythm of the strokes, the artist reinterprets written language as a visual experience filled with pre-linguistic emotion and contemplation.

이건만_untitled 25.07.10.2_45×45cm_acrylic paint on fabric and canvas_2025

By exploring the structural beauty inherent in the consonants and vowels of Hangul, Lee engages in a modern reinterpretation of Korean aesthetics. The repetition of brushstrokes and layered forms accumulate thought and time, turning his practice into a meditative act of “writing through painting.”

이건만_untitled 24.11.10.3_45×45cm_acrylic paint on fabric and canvas_2024

His paintings embody the flow of time and the lingering echoes of memory, inviting viewers to pause and experience the poetic beauty of letters — beyond their meanings, within their pure visual form.

Galerie GAIA
80-5, Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea
+82 2 733 3373

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