Young June Lew had been making paintings of fleshless, empty clothing-figures for over a decade and a half before she finally took the discernible step forward, with the working title: “Ordinary Saints”. Concerning her older body of works, she had explained: “mankind has a fundamental desire to migrate from one place to another. Making the move creates an event, which becomes history. This history does not disappear; we, the living, remember it and make it a part of ourselves. As we mature and gain experience in this way, we begin to foresee what will come...” Her saints embody all of her former charm, yet this obvious new element solidly exposes her new direction. Observing faces of people around her, she realizes that there is goodness and inexplicable beauty in every face, thus the title: “Ordinary Saints”.

 

BACKGROUND & EDUCATION

 

1976   MFA California State University, Los Angeles

1973   BFA Ehwa Womens’ University, Seoul, Korea

 

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

 

National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea

Sonje Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea Kumho Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea

Ewha Womens’ University, Seoul, Korea

Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA

Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA

Civic Art Center, Walnut Creek, CA

Woods Foundation, Lincoln, NE

McKinsey Foundation, San Francisco, CA

 

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

 

 

 

2012   Andrew Bae Gallery, Ordinary Saints

 

 

2010   Andrew Bae Gallery, Chicago, Redemption

 

 

2008   Memory Works 2006 Andrew Bae Gallery, Chicago 

 

 

2004   National Museum of Contemporary Art

 

 

            Seoul Declaration

 

 

            100 Artists for Peace Andrew Bae Gallery, Chicago

 

 

2002   Kwangju Biennale, Korea Andrew Bae Gallery

 

 

2000   San Francisco MOMA Rental Gallery

 

 

1998   Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA

 

 

1996   Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport, CA

 

 

            D.P. Fong Gallery, San Jose, CA

 

 

1995   Sabina Gallery, Los Angeles

 

 

1994   Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA

 

 

1991   National Museum of Mexico, Mexico City

 

 

1989   Kunst Kabinett Gallery, West Germany

 

 

1988   National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul

 

 

1984   Korean Cultural Center, Paris

 

 

1980   Contemporary Art of East Asian-Americans, UCLA Art Gallery