Il Lee at the San Jose Museum of Art

On a recent trip to California, we went to the San Jose Museum of Art (SJMA), where I was delighted to view an exhibit of Korean-born New York based artist, Il Lee.  It took me a while to warm up to his work, which is made exclusively with ball point pens on paper or canvas.  That's right, I said ball point pens--the ordinary kind you buy by the box at Staples or Office Depot. 

Lee does not use the pens to draw so much as to build up an image through repetitive strokes, gradually creating dark masses or shapes.  At first you almost want to dismiss them as "scribbling," but there is something obsessive and compelling about his images that seduce you into entering his world. 

This show at SJMA is Lee's first solo show in a museum, and the largest exhibit of his work to date, covering the last three decades of his output.   One begins with his drawings on paper, and by the time you get to his huge canvasses, you are indeed impressed.    I started out as a skeptic, not expecting to like this show, but I ended up loving it. 

You can check out images and commentary on Lee's exhibition by following the links at this API press relase at Art Projects International.  If you're going to be in the San Jose, California area in the next couple of months, take the time to see this.  The exhibit is open until July 8, 2007.