There is a famous art museum in Daejeon. It is the Lee Ungno Museum of Art. Maybe some people already know this art museum and some people do not. Today, we will find out what kind of art museum Lee Ungno is and what exhibitions are currently being held. The Lee Ungno Art Museum was established in 2007 to showcase, inherit, and develop the art world of Lee Ungno. In 2012, the Daejeon Goam Art and Culture Foundation was launched to enhance the independence and expertise of the museum's operation. The Lee Ungno Museum of Art continues to hold exhibitions that promote the achievements of Lee Ungno, and systematically collects and preserves outstanding works of art, focusing on Lee Ungno's works. It also provides citizens with opportunities to experience various cultures and helps young artists who produce experimental works in the field of visual arts to hold exhibitions free of charge. In addition, through the Paris Lee Ungno Residence Program, the museum works with the French Lee Ungno Foundation to select and send overseas promising local artists with relatively fewer opportunities to help them have access to overseas programs and workspaces. It also conducts international academic seminars, builds up art archives, and runs art labs. It is noteworthy that the Lee Ungno Museum of Art is striving to develop Korean art and discover local artists, rather than simply displaying Lee Ungno's works.

 The Lee Ungno Museum of Art is important not only inside but also outside. The architect was Laurent Beaudouin, a world-renowned architect from France, whose notable works include the University of Nancy and the Museum of Art in Nancy. The motif of the architecture of the Lee Ungno Museum of Art is Su (壽), a representative work of the 1970s that exemplifies Lee Ungno's compositional abstract letters. Inspired by the construction inherent in Lee Ungno’s work Su (壽), Laurent Beaudouin transformed the drawing elements of his work into structures, interpreting and symbolizing the abstractions of Lee Ungno's abstract letters architecturally.

 The Lee Ungno Museum of Art consists of four themes. First, the works of Lee Ungno during the period of abstract letters are reinterpreted architecturally and symbolized. Second, there are various exterior spaces linked to exhibition spaces that reinterpret the concepts of walls and yards, which are traditional architectural space elements. Third, various links between interior and exterior spaces induce fun and interest through viewing exhibitions centered on the concept of walking. Fourth, there is a space that captures the natural environment. Laurent Beaudouin said, “The museum should be designed to make the exhibition stand out the most, but it should be a perfect artwork in itself. I'm sure it will be an art museum that fully reflects the world of Lee Ungno's work.” Therefore, we can pay attention to the natural scenery throughout the exhibition hall while appreciating the works on display.

 The museum is currently holding an exhibition titled 'Letters, Designs, Patterns: Lee Ungno’s Abstract Letters.' The exhibition runs from April 27 to July 11. It is noted that Lee Ungno's abstract letter style, which began in the early 1960s, developed through paintings, sculptures, ceramics, calligraphy, and tapestries throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In 1958, Lee Ungno, who experienced Western contemporary art in Germany and France, believed that the literal characteristics of Chinese characters could be represented as oriental abstract forms, so he created abstract paintings using letters. The exhibition introduces Lee Ungno's abstract works by era and style, and the creative ideas of the artist dealing with abstract art become the key. Before that, ‘Four Seasons of Lee Ungno,’ an exhibition that introduces Lee Ungno's landscape paintings in four seasons, is displayed. The exhibition hall presents a specialized design for visitors to experience four-season landscapes. After the exhibition, ‘An homage to Lee Ungno’ will introduce the experimental works of young artists along with Lee Ungno's art.

 As soon as we enter the museum, we come across Exhibition Hall 1: The Beginning of Abstract Letters. In the 1960s, in his abstract letter work, the free movement of the brush in a rhythmic way was used, or the canvas was made dense through materials such as glue and traditional paper, hanji. Furthermore, rough work such as scratching or crumpling the surface of the painting produced a visual effect similar to scripts found on oracle bones or ancient tombstones. Like this, the works of that time show many of the artist's basic ideas about abstract letters, and the artist's creative way stands out. In addition, Lee Ungno spent two and a half years in prison for his involvement in a political incident in 1967, but he did not stop producing his work. You can see the works of that time in this exhibition hall. For example, for his depiction of prison inmates using rice paste to make janggi (Asian chess) pieces, he produced the work using rice left behind by him, what others left behind, and scraps of rice obtained from someone running errands. Soy sauce was also used. If you want to feel his passion and his experimental spirit, check out these works.

 When you proceed, you will come across Exhibition Hall 2: Letters and Designs. In the 1970s, Lee Ungno created solid compositional abstract paintings that revealed the structure of letters in a three-dimensional manner. He used the complex structure of Chinese characters as the beauty of ‘composition’ and also used the simple form of the straight lines and curves of Korean letters, Hangul, in a formative manner. In addition, the three-dimensional sculptures and ceramics on one side of the second exhibition hall are noteworthy for revealing Lee Ungno's desire for three-dimensional creation. Pottery and plate patterns began to be created in the late 1960s, and the use of abstract letters as designs showed an unconventional aesthetic. Lee Ungno's designs were used by the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres in France to produce porcelain. In addition, the French National Tapestry Production Company purchased eight of Lee Ungno’s designs and produced tapestry. Accordingly, his work was highly praised.

 In Exhibition Hall 3: Prints and Letters, you can see several of Lee Ungno's prints. Most of his works were created based on letters and people, and some of his prints using letters borrowed the form of either seal engraving or rubbing. Lee Ungno carved patterns on wood or rubber plates and stamped them like block prints or reproduced designs using the rubbing technique. You will see works of geometric patterns on various materials such as wood, rubber, stone, and zinc. One of the most notable exhibits here is the 1972 Tapisri Bam Tree, a collection of art held by the Lee Ungno Museum of Art. The work was purchased by the French National Tapestry Production Institute in the 1970s. To emphasize its status, it is displayed at the highest point in the exhibition hall. Before entering the third exhibition hall, it would be good to stand still and appreciate the work from a distance.

 Exhibition Hall 4: Handwriting and People is next to Exhibition Hall 3. In his later years, Lee Ungno mainly devoted himself to creating a series of works inspired by people, but he also continued to create abstract letter works. This exhibition hall displays works of abstract letters at that time. Lee Ungno experimented with various handwriting, drawing on his experimental spirit. In addition to Chinese characters, he experimented with the curves of Arabic letters as the subject of his paintings and boldly transformed Chinese characters into pictograms. This way of creating complex patterns was very similar to the technique he used for his “people works.” In this regard, it can be inferred that the characters in these works were drawn as if Lee Ungno were writing letters.

 Lee Ungno is one of the representative artists of Korea and had such a passion for art that he continued his work until he was over 80 years old, developing his unique style of painting. For him, art was life. He was born into a poor family and continued his work by distributing newspapers. Lee Ungno was widely known for his abstract paintings, mainly classified as modern and contemporary art, but, in fact, he began his career as a calligrapher, painting “Four Gracious Plants.” He was excellent at painting bamboo. This later became the basis for adopting Western contemporary art and pioneering his unique style of painting. Also, Lee Ungno was called the magician of various genres. He produced works of various genres, including calligraphy, ink-and-wash paintings, collages, sculptures, engravings, tapestries, and paintings. For him, everything was material for creation, and everything, including hanji, cloth, cotton, newspaper, and even rotten wood, became material for his work. That aspect is evident in this exhibition. You can experience Lee Ungno's multifaceted art world, his experimental spirit, his breaking of common sense, and his passion for art through each piece. Why don't you get a glimpse of his moods through his works at this exhibition?