Han Jong Lee
Han Jong Lee(Han) has spent all his life in a city. He was born and grew up in Seoul, the capital city of South Korea. He has had a fascination with drawing since childhood.
Upon graduation from Kang Nam University with a degree in Graphic Design, he worked on a career in advertising working primarily as a background Graphic Designer. Since then, he has chosen to experience the variety life has to offer, and moved to the US for studies in New Media at the Academy of Art University from 2001 to 2004. After that, he went to New Zealand in 2005. He had success with being the owner of two restaurants while also being the chef until 2013. When his life stabilized, this journey gave him the courage to once again live the life of a painter, which is what he has really wanted. He packed and left New Zealand and returned to San Francisco in 2014. He received his Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from the Academy of Art University in 2016. Currently, he lives in San Francisco.
Through his travels in other countries, he has since experienced a number of other cities. Cities have character; they are busy, complicated, and rhythmic. And, generally, they are fairly similar, made of tall buildings, busy streets, and people running from place to place. In the end, it’s our own perception that influences how we see a city.
He works with an interest in the urban community of light and atmosphere, which take on heightened effect in his paintings of San Francisco and other cities. Cities have many different shapes, colors, moods, and atmospheres as time flows and weather changes, and Han wishes to capture this flux. Furthermore, through his paintings, Han strives to express the city’s emotional diversity and the beauty of harmony. These capture something about his unique perspective as he would paint scenes that spoke to him in some way—particularly in terms of their emotional resonance. By doing this, he wants to communicate with the world about relationships with other people, and nature.
He is currently represented by Waterhouse Gallery, in Santa Barbara and exhibit his artworks in the Clyde & Co US LLP, San Francisco, CA(2016~2017). Also, He has shown his work at a number of group shows.
Education
- 2016 Master of Fine Art Painting Academy of Art University, San Francisco, USA
- 2015 Bachelor’s of Fine Art Kang Nam University, Gyeonggi Province, South KOREA
Award
2016 - “1st Place”, Landscape Category, The 2016 Annual International Competition ‘by ‘The Artist's Magazine’
- “2nd Place”, MFA Landscape Painting, Annual Spring Show, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA
- “Finalist”, The Clyde & Community Art Committee ‘by Clyde & Co US LLP Community Art Project’
2015 - “1st Place”, Nocturne Painting, the 2015 Bimonthly International Competition
‘by ‘PleinAir Salon Magazine’ International Competition’
- “2nd Place”, Landscape Painting, The 2015 Annual International Student Competition ‘by ‘The Artist's Magazine’’
- “Finalist”, International Competition of Gallery 25N’s (Semi-Annual Open Il) ‘by Art-Competition.net’
- “Finalist”, International Competition of 2015 Spring National Oil & Acrylic Painters’Society (NOAPS) Exhibit
- “Finalist”, International Competition of Colors of Humanity Art Gallery’s October Exhibit
- “Finalist”, MFA Landscape Painting, Annual Spring Show, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA
1997 - “Advertisement Design Award”, The 2nd Competition of Gyeonggi Province Design Exhibition
by Suwon Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Gyeonggi Province, South KOREA
- “Prize Winner with Packaging Design”, The 33rd Dae-Han Industrial Designer Association
Competition, Seoul, South KOREA
1996 - “Poster Design”, The Competition of the KOREA Highway Corporation,
by KOREA Transportation Safety Authority, Seoul, South KOREA
- “The Highest Selection, Calendar Design”, The 1st Competition of Gyeonggi Province Design Exhibition
by Suwon Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Gyeonggi Province, South KOREA
- “Advertisement Design”, The 1st Competition of Gyeonggi Province Design Exhibition
by Suwon Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Gyeonggi Province, South KOREA
- “Prize Winner with a Poster Design”, The 32rd Competition of Dae-Han Industrial Designer
Association, Seoul, South KOREA
Exhibitions
2016 - Clyde & Co US LLP, 101 Second Street, 24th~25th floors, San Francisco, CA
2016 - Annual Spring Show, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA
2015 - “Landscape”, Colors of Humanity Art Gallery (Online Gallery)
- “Semi-Annual Open Il”, Gallery25N, Fishkill, NY (Online Gallery)
- “2015 Spring”, National Oil & Acrylic Painters’ Society Exhibition, Bolivar, MO (Online Gallery)
- Annual Spring Show, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA
2003 - Annual Spring Show, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA
1998 - Graduate Exhibition for Bachelor’s of Fine Art with Visual Design Emphasis at Kang Nam University, Seoul, South KOREA
1997 - The 2nd ‘An Advertisement Design for Magazine’, Gyeonggi Province Design
by Suwon Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Gyeonggi Province, South KOREA
- The 2nd ‘+.o.- ’, Photography, Seoul, South KOREA
1996 - The 1st ‘Poster Design’, Gyeonggi Province Design
by Suwon Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Gyeonggi Province, South KOREA
- The 32rd ‘Poster Design’, Dae-Han Industrial Designer Association, Seoul, South KOREA
1995 - The 1st ‘+.o.-’, Photography, Seoul, South KOREA
Publication
2016 - The Artist's Magazine, “After Rain”, December Issue
- The Artist's Magazine, “Cafe”, January/February Issue
2015 - The Plein Air Magazine, “Waiting for a Bus”, October/November Issue
Han Jong Lee(Han) has spent all his life in a city. He was born and grew up in Seoul, the capital city of South Korea. He has had a fascination with drawing since childhood.
Upon graduation from Kang Nam University with a degree in Graphic Design, he worked on a career in advertising working primarily as a background Graphic Designer. Since then, he has chosen to experience the variety life has to offer, and moved to the US for studies in New Media at the Academy of Art University from 2001 to 2004. After that, he went to New Zealand in 2005. He had success with being the owner of two restaurants while also being the chef until 2013. When his life stabilized, this journey gave him the courage to once again live the life of a painter, which is what he has really wanted. He packed and left New Zealand and returned to San Francisco in 2014. He received his Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from the Academy of Art University in 2016. Currently, he lives in San Francisco.
Through his travels in other countries, he has since experienced a number of other cities. Cities have character; they are busy, complicated, and rhythmic. And, generally, they are fairly similar, made of tall buildings, busy streets, and people running from place to place. In the end, it’s our own perception that influences how we see a city.
He works with an interest in the urban community of light and atmosphere, which take on heightened effect in his paintings of San Francisco and other cities. Cities have many different shapes, colors, moods, and atmospheres as time flows and weather changes, and Han wishes to capture this flux. Furthermore, through his paintings, Han strives to express the city’s emotional diversity and the beauty of harmony. These capture something about his unique perspective as he would paint scenes that spoke to him in some way—particularly in terms of their emotional resonance. By doing this, he wants to communicate with the world about relationships with other people, and nature.
He is currently represented by Waterhouse Gallery, in Santa Barbara and exhibit his artworks in the Clyde & Co US LLP, San Francisco, CA(2016~2017). Also, He has shown his work at a number of group shows.
Education
- 2016 Master of Fine Art Painting Academy of Art University, San Francisco, USA
- 2015 Bachelor’s of Fine Art Kang Nam University, Gyeonggi Province, South KOREA
Award
2016 - “1st Place”, Landscape Category, The 2016 Annual International Competition ‘by ‘The Artist's Magazine’
- “2nd Place”, MFA Landscape Painting, Annual Spring Show, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA
- “Finalist”, The Clyde & Community Art Committee ‘by Clyde & Co US LLP Community Art Project’
2015 - “1st Place”, Nocturne Painting, the 2015 Bimonthly International Competition
‘by ‘PleinAir Salon Magazine’ International Competition’
- “2nd Place”, Landscape Painting, The 2015 Annual International Student Competition ‘by ‘The Artist's Magazine’’
- “Finalist”, International Competition of Gallery 25N’s (Semi-Annual Open Il) ‘by Art-Competition.net’
- “Finalist”, International Competition of 2015 Spring National Oil & Acrylic Painters’Society (NOAPS) Exhibit
- “Finalist”, International Competition of Colors of Humanity Art Gallery’s October Exhibit
- “Finalist”, MFA Landscape Painting, Annual Spring Show, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA
1997 - “Advertisement Design Award”, The 2nd Competition of Gyeonggi Province Design Exhibition
by Suwon Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Gyeonggi Province, South KOREA
- “Prize Winner with Packaging Design”, The 33rd Dae-Han Industrial Designer Association
Competition, Seoul, South KOREA
1996 - “Poster Design”, The Competition of the KOREA Highway Corporation,
by KOREA Transportation Safety Authority, Seoul, South KOREA
- “The Highest Selection, Calendar Design”, The 1st Competition of Gyeonggi Province Design Exhibition
by Suwon Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Gyeonggi Province, South KOREA
- “Advertisement Design”, The 1st Competition of Gyeonggi Province Design Exhibition
by Suwon Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Gyeonggi Province, South KOREA
- “Prize Winner with a Poster Design”, The 32rd Competition of Dae-Han Industrial Designer
Association, Seoul, South KOREA
Exhibitions
2016 - Clyde & Co US LLP, 101 Second Street, 24th~25th floors, San Francisco, CA
2016 - Annual Spring Show, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA
2015 - “Landscape”, Colors of Humanity Art Gallery (Online Gallery)
- “Semi-Annual Open Il”, Gallery25N, Fishkill, NY (Online Gallery)
- “2015 Spring”, National Oil & Acrylic Painters’ Society Exhibition, Bolivar, MO (Online Gallery)
- Annual Spring Show, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA
2003 - Annual Spring Show, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA
1998 - Graduate Exhibition for Bachelor’s of Fine Art with Visual Design Emphasis at Kang Nam University, Seoul, South KOREA
1997 - The 2nd ‘An Advertisement Design for Magazine’, Gyeonggi Province Design
by Suwon Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Gyeonggi Province, South KOREA
- The 2nd ‘+.o.- ’, Photography, Seoul, South KOREA
1996 - The 1st ‘Poster Design’, Gyeonggi Province Design
by Suwon Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Gyeonggi Province, South KOREA
- The 32rd ‘Poster Design’, Dae-Han Industrial Designer Association, Seoul, South KOREA
1995 - The 1st ‘+.o.-’, Photography, Seoul, South KOREA
Publication
2016 - The Artist's Magazine, “After Rain”, December Issue
- The Artist's Magazine, “Cafe”, January/February Issue
2015 - The Plein Air Magazine, “Waiting for a Bus”, October/November Issue