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Sensing that South Korea’s hyper-technological urban society concealed a void beneath the glitter and glitz, Gapchul Lee left the cities to venture into the mountainous countryside to regain contact with a more basic nature and with the peasants who still remain embedded in it. Armed with his camera and shooting in black-and-white, Lee had no preconceived romantic vision in mind that would filter his encounter; his images eschew formal composition in favor of the ragged geometries of life, although they always betray an undercurrent of elegance that makes their vitality body forth all the more. As Lee explored more deeply, he was drawn to the rural Buddhist monks and their varied attitudes, sometimes solitary and meditative and sometimes boisterous. Lee’s sensibility, which reflects that of his subjects, is best expressed in an image of a simple table set with chopsticks and spoons that converge on the center, each one from its particular angle, forming a pattern that is never resolved because each of its elements retains a stubborn individuality. (Michael Weinstein)

Through December 5 at Andrew Bae Gallery, 300 W. Superior