Lee Kun-Yong

Lee Kun-Yong (; born 1941) is a South Korean artist known for his performance art in the 1970s. Lee was a pioneer in this movement with notable works such as Corporal Term (1971/2023), the "Events" series and Bodyscapes (1976). These series paved the way for a new kind of experimental art, and additionally were subversive acts against Park Chung Hee's authoritarian regime of the 1970s. Lee was a founding member of the Space & Time Group (ST) and a member of the Korean Avant-Garde Association (AG Group).

Early life Lee Kun-Yong was born in 1941 in Sariwon, Korea, Empire of Japan, to a nurse mother and Protestant minister father. Sariwon is a small city south of Pyongyang. His early life was dedicated to reading, influenced by his father, and discovering foreign culture through French and German cultural centers in Seoul.

"Event-Logical" series (1975) Throughout the 1970s, Lee's work evolved as he continued to question the position of the body as subject, object, medium and manifestation. In 1975, while working with the ST group, Lee began a series of performances called "Events." The "Events" series was distinct from the Euro-American happenings; it was logical and filled with intent.

Logic of Place (1975) Logic of Place (1975) was a performance piece in which Lee performed on a playground, likely in South Korea. In this piece, Lee draws a circle on the ground, moving across and around the circle, declaring where he is at each stop with the words "here," "there," and "where?". Here, he questions the relationship between the body and the space around it.

Reception and influence Lee's career grew during the 1970s when South Korea was governed under the Fourth Republic of Korea and most notably President Park Chung Hee. Park's government was authoritarian, and autocratic. It focused on economic growth, and saw large success, but dramatically decreased civil liberties for South Korean citizens. Mainly, censorship was employed in all forms of media, further affecting artists and creatives like Lee Kun-Yong and his contemporaries. Lee's main medium, performance art, was especially scrutinized by the South Korean government. Despite the government's censorship of art by Lee and others, they allowed artists including Lee to serve as national delegates in international biennales and other exhibitions.