2017 Sydney Contemporary Art Fair showcases Korean multimedia artist Sang Hyun Lee’s digitally compiled works

Sydney International Contemporary Art Fair showcases Korean multimedia artist Sang Hyun Lee's digitally compiled works epitomizing the dichotomy of reality and fiction blending historical images of Korea with vivid pop culture of contemporary life.

Pyongyang Gisaeng dies to save her Chastity Source: Supplied

Sanghyun Lee has digitally manipulated two Korean landscape paintings from the Joseon era (1392 - 1897), and set in what is now North Korea, in order to blend layers of history and fiction, past, present and future. Exploring questions of artifice and reality in contemporary Korea, he populates these historical paintings with internet game characters, Barbie dolls and K-Pop stars.

He also presents global brand logos, such as Louis Vuitton, Yves Saint Laurent and Gucci. The collective craving for money and possessions that Lee observes in both South and North Korea is he argues, related to a profoundly human desire to consume, which can never be satisfied.

Spring of Joseon Source: Supplied

Pyongyang Gisaeng dies to save her Chastity Source: Supplied

Sanghyun Lee speaks to SBS about the exhibition in Sydney.