Pryce Lee currently has his first European solo on display with Neochrome gallery in Torino, Italy. What LIES Beneath opened on February 19th and is focused on the urban landscape, its aesthetics and the ways it affects human life and natural balance. The works exhibited are the result of the two years of research during which NY-based artist explored the language of the street signs and in particular, construction works.
Using elements such as red engineering signs sprayed on asphalt, brick dust, black sand, metal shavings and other materials on canvas, Lee draws attention to a metropolitan reality that was previously never examined or represented in such a form. Skillfully reproducing original materials through the combination of polymers, each of the works are “a fragment of contemporary history that Lee intends to archive and at the same time to reinterpret in his paintings.”
The second part of the show is the conceptual body of work entitled Unreal Estate, which represents the artist’s comment towards the progressive rise of real estate prices in the Western world. Revealing gold underneath rough facade like surfacse, Lee is suggesting that something “lies” under the surface, playing both with the words in the title, and with the levels of interpretation.
Finally, the sculptural piece For Sale (Dead or Alive), made of raw steel, galvanized steel, wood, acrylic, taxidermic bird, bones and glass, is an open critique towards the unscrupulous world of property sales. Addressing the environmental issues connected with land sales, especially in exotic countries with fragile ecosystems, this striking piece shows direct impact of such behavior on nature and the wildlife.
Photo credit: Andrea Concina.
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