Kok Wan Lee exhibition

Bermuda Society of Arts

Kok Wan Lee must be the one of the most prolific artist working in Bermuda today.

He is also highly versatile, and yet, whatever he undertakes, there is always a certain stamp that identifies the work as his.

Obviously, he works quickly, but his work never looks "cranked out". Instead, his ability to work rapidly, gives his paintings or drawings a sense of movement and energy.

Additionally, his mark making is done with authority, the accomplishment of much thought and practice.

I am reminded of Chinese and Japanese brush paintings; similarly the result of years of practice. Their touch is one of great control; Mr. Lee likewise shows considerable mastery.

Contrary to what control may suggest, Kok Wan Lee's work is also experimental. He says that when he begins to draw or paint, it is typically something he wants to try out or investigate. In other words, the process is a learning experience.

In carrying out his investigations, Mr. Lee usually tries out whatever it is he is doing by applying it to a series of paintings or drawings.

What he learns in one painting may suggest some other related procedure that he then applies to his next painting and so on.

Thus an experiment will stretch over a number of works.

Currently he is exhibiting his recent watercolour and charcoal drawings in one of the small galleries at the Bermuda Society of Arts. Altogether there are 12 works, three in charcoal and nine in watercolour.

His charcoals are notable because he not only draws with charcoal, but also with an eraser.

It is a matter of first putting down a mark or a group of marks that later may be altered by erasing, with additional marks added later, often on top of what he may have earlier erased.

In the charcoal series in this exhibition, his marks suggest details of palms — trunks and well as the fronds. The drawings are impressively large, but with simple, high quality frames.

Mr. Lee's watercolours are systematically produced.

He first lays down areas of intense colour, then over-paints with darker, more muted colours, or possibly more neutral tones, but with small areas of the original colours showing through from behind darker overlays. This gives his watercolours the illusion of depth.

Although, in this exhibition, his watercolours are reminiscent of landscapes and plants, at no time does he attempt to make realistic representations of such subjects.

Instead, these are abstracts that suggest landscapes or botanicals. It is a difficult way to work, for it is entirely out of his head and also devoid of preliminary drawings.

The exhibition continues through January 23, 2008.