For his first solo show at Motus Fort, Jim Lee will exhibit a series of recent painting hybrids that reflect his quirky brand of humor and present themselves as abstract solutions that slip in and out of recognition. Glossy surfaces, exposed three-dimensional wood skeletons set behind canvas, and calculated brushstrokes are all elements that emerge throughout the gallery space and give each piece a humble and exceedingly low-tech charm.

Jim Lee emphasizes basic formal convictions, such as structure, color, and space, while simultaneously eradicating the boundaries and preciousness of those conventions at every turn. An obsessive collector of industrial and consumer detritus, Lee fashions from these materials sly and innocuous objects that demand close inspection. He pulls apart and screws together his formative non-objective art influences as means of re-interpreting the world. Foul and chance enter in as conditions of the work and operate as vehicles for signature or sentiment. Sharp titles, sports reference and punky gestures, all employed frequently by Lee, threaten to negate the work’s seeming aesthetic austerity. Art historical references are evident as the works take their cue from peripheral influences such as Kurt Schwitters, Blinky Palermo and Ree Morton.

Jim Lee’s work teeters between fallibility and accomplishment, transforming the pathetic into the sublime. His impressions combine the architectural and the innate, in order to reintroduce the day’s detritus into dialogue. It’s through these familiar objects and methods that make this work, penetrating, personal and long lasting.

Jim Lee received his MFA from the University of Delaware before relocating to Brooklyn, NY. His work has been exhibited throughout the United States and Europe, most recently at Freight + Volume, NY; Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, NY; White Flag Projects, St. Louis; The University of the Arts, Philadelphia; CRG Gallery, NY; The Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY; La Station, Nice; FDC Satellite, Brussels; Daimler Contemporary and Galerie Markus Winter, Berlin. He currently teaches at Hofstra University and Queens College.

* The text provided by Motus Fort.

Opened dates: September 10 - October 16, 2010