Lee Andre
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Bio
Born in Korea and adopted at age five by a family in Minnesota, Lee Andre's early penchant for drawing led to art school and a BFA from the University of Washington. After a decade working as a muralist, she put her career on hold to travel and live abroad in such places as Korea, Thailand, and the UAE. By 2016, with the realization of time passing and the yen to return to the arts, Lee settled in Florida and reestablished her studio practice.
Her vision for and choice in subject matter evolved, in part, after stumbling upon a collection of old black and white photographs of anonymous people and animals set in static poses. The pictures, taken when camera shutter speeds were too slow to capture movement, presented, without drama, an uncomplicated slower world view. Taking this sensibility back to her studio, Lee made the choice to limit herself to black and white using the rudimentary medium of charcoal. As an exploration of the notion of "yesteryear", her work is, in essence, a reaction to the modern necessities of speed, newness, and disposable ease. Animals, then, became the natural subject for her work as they themselves are caught in the crux of human modernity.
Depicted in unremarkable stances and set within ambiguous space, Lee's subjects look out at the viewer as though posing for a photograph, a decidedly curious disposition that draws in the viewer through the subject's natural charm and subtle gradations of light into shadow. But, for all her study of these animals and desire for plausible accuracy, Lee is not your usual wildlife artist. In fact, it would be a mistake to narrow the description of her work to a specific genre. Her work is about process, the back and forth between construction and destruction.
"My drawings are composed of thousands of accidents. I have to be willing to destroy portions that I may have labored on for days or weeks; there isn't a linear path to completion."
Physically demanding, Lee works on rigid panels and acquires unique textural surface variations that are an integral aesthetic. Through her process, charcoal does more than sit on the surface; it weaves itself into the substrate making these deceptively simple works an intensely time-consuming affair.
Through her work, Lee expresses a broad spectrum of emotions from contentment to neuroticism, lightness to introspection. Her subjects range from the beautiful to the ugly, massive to the tiny, with a growing interest in threatened species.
"There is a realization that I might be drafting a moment in time, that the animal might not exist at some point, and all that remains are memories captured in pictures."
Education
1989 University of Washington, Seattle, BFA in Painting
Exhibitions
2024 Small Works Great Wonders, National Cowboy and western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, OK
Western Visions, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY
Portraits, Jonathan Cooper Gallery, London, UK
The Winter Show, Jonathan Cooper, New York, NY
2023 Naturalism Now, Gallery 1261, Denver, CO
Small Works Great Wonders, National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, OK
Western Visions, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY
Jonathan Cooper Gallery 35th Anniversary Exhibit, London, UK
32nd Annual Arts Thrive Exhibition, Albuquerque, NM
Coors Western Art Exhibit, Denver, CO
2022 The West Begins Here, National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, OK
Western Visions, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY
Spotlight On Exceptional New Talents, Jonathan Cooper Gallery, London, UK
Coors Western Art Exhibit, Denver, CO
2021 Art on Brick Walls: Boca Raton Museum of Art Juried Exhibition, Boca Raton, FL
Western Visions, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY
31st Annual Arts Thrive Exhibition, Albuquerque Museum, NM
Coors Western Art Exhibit, Denver, CO
2020 Coors Western Art Exhibit, Denver, CO
12th Biennial National Art Exhibition, Punta Gorda, FL
30th Annual Arts Thrive Exhibition, Albuquerque Museum, NM
2019 Coors Western Art Exhibit, Denver, CO
29th Annual Arts Thrive Exhibition, Albuquerque Museum, NM
2018 Endangered Fine Art and Photography Exhibit, Miami, FL
28th Annual Arts Thrive Art Exhibition, Albuquerque Museum, NM
Creativity Take Courage, Gainesville, FL
JF Gallery, 7th Annual Juried Exhibition, West Palm Beach, FL
52nd Founders Juried Awards Exhibition, Naples, FL
1th Biennial National Art Exhibition, The Visual Arts Center, Punta Gorda, FL
Art Synergy V at Art Palm Beach, FL
2017 Endangered Fine Art and Photography Exhibit, Miami, FL
27th Annual Arts Thrive Art Exhibition, Albuquerque Museum, NM
Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, Call to Create, FL
Art Synergy IV at Art Palm Beach, FL
2016 Flora and Fauna, Box Gallery, FL
Delray Art Museum, Annual 6x6 exhibit, FL
Awards
2020 Merit Award, 12th Biennial National Arts Exhibition, Punta Gorda, FL
2019 Semi-Honorable mention, Art Olympia International Open Art Competition, Japan
Selected large panel artist, Arts Thrive, Albuquerque Museum, NM
2018 Merit Award, GFAA Gallery, Creativity Takes Courage, Gainesville, FL
First Place, JF Gallery, 7th Annual Juried Exhibition, West Palm Beach, FL
Best of Show, 52nd Founders Juried Awards Exhibition, Naples, FL
Excellence Award, 11th Biennial National Art Exhibition, Punta Gorda, FL
2017 Selected large panel Artist, Arts Thrive, Albuquerque, NM
Press
Featured in Western Art and Architecture magazine, "An Artist's Journey", Dec 2019/Jan 2020 issue
By Rose Fredrick
Representation
Jonathan Cooper Gallery, London, UK