Kiaf seoul, 2024

Lee maxey

Booth #A-35

September 4 - 8, 2024

Coex | 513 Yeongdong-daero, Gangnam-gu, Seoul

Olympia is proud to present new paintings by Lee Maxey for Kiaf SEOUL, on view from September 4-8, 2024.

Included are several depictions of gates and doors, yet instead of providing passage, they confront and constrain. Maxey’s tight compositions frequently place the figure close to or at the center of the picture plane, giving the subjects a weighty, iconic importance that resembles spiritual images. In contrast to Maxey’s childhood, which was focused on the future—the end of the world, the afterlife—these paintings highlight that the ordinary of the present is full of mystery, beauty, and is worthy of our attention.

Maxey paints with egg tempera, aligning her images with the ancient medium’s extensive history as a tool of persuasion and beauty. In No Yelling and Hold the Line, Maxey exaggerates color, heightening the sense of otherworldliness. They are seductively painted, with soft marks on an eggshell-like chalk gesso ground. Her hinges have a rusty, built-up texture that contrasts with the velvety spaces around them. Like Maxey’s other subjects, they are transformed into emblems of a controlling, mystical world.

Continuing the project of her most recent solo exhibition with the gallery, the titles of the new works are common-place instructions like Stay Put and Keep Still, sending viewers through a maze of riddles and paradoxes. Domineering language is pushed into new, yet wholly familiar scenes. When taken together, Maxey’s signature medley of imagery—ranging from the domestic to games and landscapes—is a reminder that any meaning found in the world is crafted by us.

**Lee Maxey**, *Hold the Line*, 2024, Egg tempera on panel, 12 x 4 x 1 in (30.5 x 10.2 x 2.5 cm)

Lee Maxey received her MFA from Boston University (2016) and her BFA from the University of Central Arkansas (2011). Selected solo and two-person exhibitions include: Olympia (Solo, New York, NY, 2024, 2021); 12.26 Gallery (Solo, Dallas, TX, 2023); Yutaka Kikutake Gallery (Two-person, Tokyo, JPN, 2023); the artist-run space Hercules Art/Studio Program (Solo, New York, NY, 2019).

Recent group shows include: Deanna Evans Projects (New York, NY, 2024); miart (Olympia, Milan, ITA, 2024); Felix Art Fair (12.26, Los Angeles, CA, 2024); Able Baker Contemporary (Portland, ME, 2021); The Bureau of General Services: Queer Division (New York, NY, 2019).

Forthcoming projects include: NARANJO 141 (Group, Mexico City, MEX, 2025); 12.26 (Solo, Dallas, TX, 2025).

A solo presentation of Maxey's work at NADA Miami (Miami, FL, 2022) was selected for the Curated Spotlight by Joeonna Bellorado-Samuels. Maxey was an Artist in Residence at NARANJO 141 (Mexico City, MEX, 2024), the Hercules Studio/Art Program (New York, NY, 2019) and the Fire Island Artist Residency (Fire Island, NY, 2018). Maxey lives and works in Brooklyn.