Margaret Lee

STUDY #2

2014
acrylic on archival pigment print
12 x 16 x 1/2 inches

Western food always looks so perfect. Everything would look perfect when we would go food shopping at the supermarket, but then in the Asian market it was, “Uh, that’s a squid,” and everything smells weird, and while there were apples and pears and things like that, it wasn’t all perfect. – Margaret Lee

Study #2 contains two elements that show up frequently in Margaret Lee’s work – dots and fruit. Fruit plays a number of roles in her sculptures, photographs, and installations. In this photo, the shapes might be stand-ins for the prototypical still life subject in art history, yet they are drained of color and personality. The dots in Lee’s work are a kind of confusing, decorative pattern that distorts and flattens one’s perception of depth. Indeed, in this clever work, Lee gives us things we are familiar with (dots and fruit), and then playfully takes them away. Lee has exhibited and organized exhibitions at numerous venues, and she was featured in the recent 12th Lyon Biennale. She was recently selected by Beatrix Ruf and Peter Eleey as the recipient of the 2012 Artadia NADA prize and was named one of Modern Painter’s 24 artists to watch in 2013.