Instinct
Mindy Solomon is pleased to present Instinct, a solo exhibition by Minkyu Lee. Lee has participated in several group exhibitions and art fairs with the gallery, however this marks his first solo presentation. Comprised of both functional and non-functional design works, the exhibition highlights Lee’s commitment to exceptional craftsmanship and meticulous detail.
“My artistic practice delves into the foundational structures that shape both our physical and metaphysical realities. My furniture serves as a lens through which to uncover the essence of human experience. The chair, with its intrinsic relationship to the human body, becomes a focal point in my work, offering a medium through which to express emotion, gesture, and connection. As humans, motion is our universal language. Body language, born from movement, is a primal expression of feelings and needs — an essential mechanism for survival. These motions and gestures form the core of our communication, offering insights into the nature of life itself. My current work seeks to document these instincts and desires, capturing the raw interplay between movement, form, and meaning.” One of the highlights of the exhibition is Lee’s handmade violin.
“Originating from my furniture practice, the Butterfly Violin continues my investigation into the relationship between the body, movement, and human experience. While the chair reflects the body’s physical presence, the violin becomes an extension of gesture, rhythm, and emotion through sound. The violin exists simultaneously as an object and a vessel for expression. In developing this work, I studied historical traditions and methods of sound-making while reinterpreting and reinventing the instrument’s form through the language of the body. Through this process, I sought to reveal the invisible structures that underlie organic experience. Motion is a universal language. Just as body language communicates emotion and instinct, music carries a similarly primal capacity for connection and meaning. The form of this violin attempts to visualize that exchange, tracing the interplay between movement, resonance, structure, and emotion. Through these gestures, the work reflects my ongoing interest in uncovering the hidden systems that shape how we experience and understand the world.”
All of the works on view embody a sense of movement and gesture. Utilizing hardwoods as his primary medium, Lee miraculously carves softness and fluidity into these forms. Instinct reflects the artist’s intuitive sensibility — an innate drive to create flow within inanimate objects and reveal the vitality that lies beneath their surfaces.
About Minkyu Lee
Minkyu Lee is a multimedia artist whose practice centers on vessel and furniture making, working primarily in ceramics and wood. Born and educated in South Korea, he relocated to the United States in 2006. He holds a BFA (2002) and MFA (2006) from Seoul National University, as well as a second MFA (2008) from the School for American Crafts at Rochester Institute of Technology.
Lee has exhibited widely in both national and international venues, including the Kips Bay Decorator Show House (2024), Design Miami (2021–2023), New Orientalia in Taiwan (2018), Art Wynwood (2016), the Eighth Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale in Korea (2015), ZONA MACO México Arte Contemporáneo (2014), SOFA Chicago (2013), Ceramic Space & Life in Korea (2009), the 28th International Ceramics Competition of L’Alcora in Spain (2008), the First Jingzhe International Ceramics Exhibition in China (2007), and the Sidney Myer Fund International Ceramic Art Award in Australia (2006).
He was a resident artist at the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts in Montana. He is a lifetime member of the International Academy of Ceramics (IAC), an honor recognizing his sustained contributions to the global ceramics field. Lee also maintains an ongoing professional relationship with Mindy Solomon Gallery in Miami, Florida, through which he continues to gain national and international visibility.
Lee currently serves as professor and chair of the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He previously held academic positions at the Savannah College of Art and Design (2008–2009) and the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay (2009–2025), where he served as Chair of the Art Program from 2017 to 2023.
