Soo Kyoung Lee

Trilingual edition: French, English, Korean

The Munpei catalog accompanies Soo Kyoung Lee's monumental series, composed of 1,000 unique works created in 2022. Inspired by an ancient Korean custom—that of munpei, wooden panels affixed to the entrance of houses to indicate their occupants—the artist offers a poetic and contemporary reinterpretation of this gesture of identification.

Rather than naming, Soo Kyoung Lee freely cuts the wood into abstract and colorful shapes. Each piece becomes an open sign, a visual trace addressed to the viewer, like a silent message laden with meaning. By substituting form for writing, she transforms a marker of individual identity into a sensitive and universal exploration of personal space.
This catalog brings together all 1,000 Munpei and bears witness to the rigor, freedom, and symbolic scope of this project between memory, matter, and abstraction.

It includes a text by Jeong Hyeon, art critic and professor at Inha University (South Korea), which insightfully illuminates the cultural context and artistic approach of Soo Kyoung Lee.