Il Lee

Il Lee
Born	Il Lee (Korean: 이일) 1952 (age 64–65) Seoul, South Korea
Education	BFA, Hongik University; MFA, Pratt Institute
Known for	visual artist
Notable work	ballpoint pen abstractions

Il Lee (Korean: 이일) is a Korean American contemporary artist. He was born in South Korea and has been living in America since the mid-1970s. Il Lee is best known for his ballpoint pen artwork; large-scale abstract imagery on paper and canvas. He also creates artwork in a similar vein utilizing acrylic and oil paint on canvas. Exhibitions of Il Lee's artwork have been held in Seoul, Paris, and numerous cities around the United States. The New York Times has described Lee's ballpoint artwork as "deceptively casual; sweeping, rhythmical abstractions in blue."

Il Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea, in 1952. His family originates from the mountains of North Korea, who made their way to South Korea in the years prior to the Korean war. His father studied architecture and engineering, but was unable to pursue it due to the outbreak of war. Lee has five siblings, and describes his family as "big" for his generation.

Lee received his B.F.A. (painting) in 1976 from Hongik University, a Korean school said to be "Western oriented." His paintings during the late-1970s were oil on canvas, presented as "geometric abstraction." The artist himself later described some of those works as "labor-intensive."

Lee then moved to America; first to Los Angeles, then to New York, where he earned his M.F.A. from the Pratt Institute in 1982. His artwork went through natural changes upon arriving in New York — "because I was in New York," as he has reflected — adding he may have "wanted to wash away the processes of the past." Lee remained in New York, where he based himself in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

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