Gowoon Lee

Gowoon Lee’s paintings explore the fetishization of innocence developed by the culture industry in cartoons such as Casper the Friendly Ghost, Tom & Jerry and Mickey Mouse. Stills from television shows Lee watched as a young child are cropped at the moment of recognition. Lee defamiliarizes the characters through uncanny compositions which highlight the commodified aesthetic of cuteness that familiar television shows have passively ingrained in the collective memory.

4 products
  • Untitled, 2025
    Untitled, 2025

    Gowoon Lee

  • Two candles, 2025
    Two candles, 2025

    Gowoon Lee

  • Candle, 2025
    Candle, 2025

    Gowoon Lee

  • Fist Fight, 2024
    Fist Fight, 2024

    Gowoon Lee

Exhibitions

  • The Reminiscence Bump

    In collaboration with Super Super Markt

    Omari Douglin, Isa Genzken, Douglas Gordon, Talisa Lallai, Gowoon Lee

    March 15 – May 11, 2025

    BRAUNSFELDER, Cologne, Germany

Biography

Gowoon Lee (b. 1991, Daegu, South Korea) lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Education

She studied at The University of Auckland, Auckland and graduated from the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf.

Exhibitions

Selected solo exhibitions include Meredith Rosen Gallery, New York (2025 upcoming); Mai 36 Galerie, Zürich (2024); Meredith Rosen Gallery, New York (2023); Meredith Rosen Gallery, New York; JVDW, Düsseldorf (both 2022).

Lee’s work has been included in group exhibitions at BRAUNSFELDER, Cologne (2025); Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf (2024); and Basel Social Club, Meredith Rosen Gallery, Basel (2023).

Collections

Gowoon Lee’s work is part of public collections including the Rubell Museum, Miami.