San Francisco based artist David Choong Lee (Juxtapoz #86) is not only one of the nicest people we know, but he is also one of our favorite figurative painters. Lee has a positive and laid-back attitude to life that transcends into his beautiful paintings. He is the next featured artist contributing to our 15th Anniversary Art Auction.

Sean Stewart and Shaun Roberts: How old were you when you left Korea?

David Choong Lee : I was 27, one year after I got out of military service. I had been in the service for three solid years. I got out and was just hanging around. I couldn’t get back in school because I had been kicked out. Then I had a really bad record, so I couldn’t really get a good job.


Why did you enter into the military? Is it mandatory?

It’s mandatory service for all Korean men.


Talk a little bit about how it was growing up in Korea.

It was crazy because the economy was growing and the military government had a coup d’etat when I was maybe three or four years old. And this government was based on crazy Cold War times, so they would educate us like, “The communists are the devil,” and “don’t even think about them,” and “if you see any spies, let us know.” One thing I was really confused about, and I remember asking (my) teacher and other people was “What if my parents are spies?” and they said, “Still, you’ve got to tell us.” So it was fucking confusing growing up. I was trying to follow what my teachers were saying, because teachers in Korea get more trust than here in the United States.


One thing that I love about, at least the portraits of homeless guys, and one thing that attracts me to history and social history is that idea of giving a voice to the voiceless. Even the story about your friend Jack; here is a guy that otherwise would have been forgotten or left out. I think that enriches our experience as a whole that much more.

That is a good word! Giving a voice to the people who are voiceless. That’s what I like. I’m thinking about doing something that shows what people aren’t seeing.


Seeing but not seeing.

Yeah. They see but they don’t see, right? That is kind of going back to the question you asked about if I feel like a foreigner in Korea. When I was talking to my old friend about the situation around my studio, people are like shooting and shit in front of your face and there are all these drug addicted people around. I was even telling them about my experience with some drugged guy and they look at it like it’s totally surreal. Like “are you really talking about the truth? Is this real?” Yeah! Because the situation after 7 pm on these streets is totally surreal for a lot of people. And that’s what I’m going to paint. That’s what I’m painting, man.

--Excerpt from Juxtapoz #86, March 2008. Interview by Sean Stewart and Shaun Roberts.

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