LOEWE X FRIEZE Seoul: Shape of Life by Jaiik Lee

Artist list

Jaiik Lee

The Loewe brand has been an avid supporter of Frieze Art Fair globally, with a full-page spread featuring different artists collaborating with the brand on the Frieze Week publication. The opening of Casa Loewe Seoul further emphasises the brand's creative outlook while contributing to the exciting art scene of Seoul, Republic of Korea, in the month of September.

The concept of each Casa Loewe around the world is comparable to a contemporary art gallery featuring the finest collection of art, craft and design. Casa Loewe Seoul has its own unique ambience.


About Jaiik Lee
The destiny to live by creating art is a unique one.
Jaiik Lee, an artist based in Korea working mostly with metal has collaborated with the Loewe Brand for about a year after being selected as one of the thirty finalists for the 2023 Loewe Foundation Craft Prize which took place at the Noguchi Museum in New York, America.
Jaiik Lee has a perception on life that is fluid. Rather than going against the tide, he endeavors to listen to the invisible flow that life has offered him until now. In Korea we have a saying, “What is defined as being good, must be good”. This is reflected in his work. Yet at the same time, he is consistently trying to evolve, both as a person and as an artist.

Trained in Korea originally at a young age, he decided to expand his knowledge on creativity by travelling to America. The experience must have been an eye-opening one as most Koreans lead a shielded life. While studying in America, he was interested in sculpting “life forms”, pitting creativity with evolution. At the time he was inspired by great masters such as Constantin Brancusi and Frank Gehry. Jaiik has worked with different materials, attempting to understand their properties to achieve his intended aesthetics. It seems “fish” has a special place in his childhood memory, and somehow Gehry’s interpretation of the form inspired him to develop his work to be where it is today.

Jaiik has worked in a design company for about ten years, developing light designs and more. He has also taught in leading universities in Korea. Like many creative people, balancing survival with what one wishes to do, remains as the hardest assignment. Nevertheless, he has managed to do well.
Since 2019, Jaiik has focused solely on developing his creativity as an artist. One’s early training goes a long way, as Jaiik is meticulous in planning. Before a piece of artwork is made, the planning period takes a long time. Before the days of the computer, Jaiik made numerous prototypes in various different materials. A visit to his studio proves this point as he has many samples yet to be developed.
Today he does his preliminary work on the computer. Much of his work is about welding strips of metal to eventually create the organic looking shapes.

Like many Korean artists, the inspiration comes from ancestral heritage. One would wonder particularly if you were not familiar with the Korean culture, why so many Korean artists are re-interpreting the “moon jar”. It is the symbol of the Joseon Dynasty people, and of Confucianism. The original name for this type of vessel form is “daeho” meaning a large jar. It was used for storing liquids, grains and more. Since cobalt oxide for making blue and white porcelain was so expensive in the ancient times, the Korean literati class decided to create something that had no surface decoration. Furthermore, it is the only form where technique dominated aesthetics. Technically, it is not possible to wheel-thrown a large vessel in one. So, two large bowls had to be made and assembled. Hence the dent in the middle sealed by an additional clay coil to secure two bowls together.

The Transition Series is Jaiik Lee’s interpretation of the moon jar. They are like a variation of lines and plains. Appearing simple in organically shaped forms, surfaces are complex with many layers of coating. This is a unique trait that can only be found in Jaiik’s work. The initial colour is polished and coloured repeatedly until the artist can achieve a satisfying result. The process is painstaking, yet the result is something quite sublime and elegant.
Over the years, Jaiik has alternated between making art jewellery and one-off art pieces. His artistic language is the same whether it is a brooch or an object. In actuality, the art jewellery pieces are like miniatures of his artworks.

For Casa Loewe Seoul, Jaiik Lee has created ten new artworks as brooches using the finest leather that is used for making the Loewe handbags. The shapes are one-off pieces, vibrant in colour adding innovation to Loewe’s products in the casa. Along with these new creations, Jaiik’s sculptural pieces are showcased for the occasion.


Dates: From 03.09.2024 to 08.09.2024
Hours: 11:00 - 19:00