Paris-based artist Seulgi Lee’s solo exhibition 《GORU GORU》 will be on view at Frac Nouvelle-Aquitaine MÉCA in Bordeaux, France, from October 9, 2026, through April 25, 2027.
 
The title 《GORU GORU》 derives from the Korean expression “goru-goru”, suggesting a varied and balanced selection of different things. The organizers compare it to a meal in which a range of dishes is enjoyed together. Just as different flavors, textures, temperatures, and ingredients share the same table, the exhibition is conceived as an experience in which works of different material and formal qualities coexist.
 
Lee’s practice begins with everyday objects and language. Quilts used to cover the body, handwoven baskets, lattice screens that filter light, and proverbs passed down orally all carry forms of knowledge and sensory experience accumulated over time.
 
The artist translates these elements into fields of color, geometric structures, and relationships between material and gesture, exploring how everyday practices of making can be transformed into the formal language of contemporary art.

Turning Proverbs into Quilts
 
Lee’s BLANKET PROJECT U is an ongoing series that translates Korean proverbs into quilted blankets. Rather than embroidering the words themselves or illustrating their literal meanings, the artist transforms the movements and relationships suggested by language into fields of color and geometric forms.
 
Tongyeong nubi artisan Cho Seong-yeon translates these compositions into silk through the meticulous process of traditional quilting. Layers of fabric are sewn together line by line, with the boundaries between colors and even the direction of the stitching becoming integral elements of the work.

The Korean proverb “Even monkeys fall from trees” conveys the idea that anyone, no matter how skilled, can make mistakes. In Lee’s work, viewers are not asked to search for a monkey or a tree. Instead, they first encounter an arrangement of color and form. Only after reading the title does the abstract composition reconnect with the familiar saying.
 
This sequence—seeing the image first and recalling the words afterward—is part of the pleasure of the series. The form of the blanket is equally important: a saying once passed from mouth to mouth is transformed into an everyday object that physically covers the body.
 
 
 
From the Colors of Dancheong to the Exhibition Space
 
One of the notable aspects of 《GORU GORU》 is the participation of Korean dancheong artisans.
 
Dancheong is a traditional Korean form of architectural polychrome painting in which multicolored pigments are applied to wooden structures such as palaces and Buddhist temples. It serves both decorative and protective functions, while also expressing architectural hierarchy and religious symbolism.

For this exhibition, Korean dancheong artisans, invited by Seulgi Lee and curator Elfi Turpin, are scheduled to create a large-scale mural directly on the gallery walls.
 
Through these works, dancheong and traditional wooden lattice structures are understood not merely as decorative motifs but as formal principles that organize space and alter perception. Repeated lines, intervals between colors, and the voids within architectural structures shape the viewer’s gaze and movement. The site-specific production planned in Bordeaux can be seen as an extension of this investigation.
 
 
 
Craft, Language, and Techniques Across Regions
 
Lee’s collaborations have extended from Korean traditions of making to other regions and cultures. In Mexico, she has worked with women basket weavers, while in Morocco she collaborated with potters from the Rif region, examining the relationship between language and modes of making.
 
During her 2023 residency at Villa Kujoyama in Japan, she researched the folk song “Akita Ondo”, traditionally sung by women, and collaborated with makers of “sudare”, traditional bamboo blinds.
 
Through such collaborations, Lee approaches local knowledge not as a fixed source of imagery but as a living relationship between people, materials, and techniques, which she develops into new formal structures. Beneath the geometric clarity of her work lies the labor of many hands and the accumulated time of different places.

From Paris and Bordeaux to Seoul
 
Seulgi Lee’s 《DAL DARI. La Lune et les Jambes》 is currently on view at the Musée Guimet in Paris through February 8, 2027. The project takes as its starting point a Korean custom associated with the first full moon of the lunar year, in which people crossed bridges in the belief that doing so would bring strength and health to their legs.
 
A semicircular wooden structure recalling traditional Korean latticework has been installed on the museum’s exterior, while inside, works composed of multicolored ribbons and bronze bells unfold across the space. The painted surface on one side of the exterior structure shifts in appearance as the viewer moves, while the interior installation creates a relationship between light, sound, and space.
 
According to Frac, 《GORU GORU》 has been conceived in dialogue with 《YOMO JOMO》, Lee’s solo exhibition opening at the Seoul Museum of Art on November 26. The Bordeaux exhibition will also coincide with the preparation of a monograph on the artist, scheduled to be published by JRP | Éditions in 2027.
 
In Lee’s practice, local culture takes on new forms through material, language, and the movement of the hand. Proverbs become quilted fields of color, lattice structures are transformed into spatial devices responsive to the viewer’s movement, and dancheong becomes a form of painting that shapes the exhibition space itself.
 
Through these transformations, abstract form remains closely connected to lived experience.

About the Artist
 
Seulgi Lee was born in Seoul in 1972 and studied at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris. She has been based in Paris since 1992.
 
Working across sculpture and installation, Lee draws on proverbs, folk songs, everyday objects, and traditional craft techniques. In 2020, she received the Korea Artist Prize, presented by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, and SBS.
 
 
 
Frac Nouvelle-Aquitaine MÉCA
 
Frac Nouvelle-Aquitaine MÉCA is a public institution for contemporary art based in Bordeaux, France. Founded in 1982, it has developed a program encompassing art collecting, exhibitions, support for artistic production, and regional cultural and educational initiatives.
 
In 2019, the institution moved into MÉCA, a multidisciplinary cultural complex, where it continues to connect contemporary art with local communities while presenting artistic practices from France and abroad.
 
“Frac” is the acronym for Fonds régional d’art contemporain, or Regional Contemporary Art Fund.
 
 
 
Exhibition Information
 
Exhibition: Seulgi Lee 《GORU GORU》
Dates: October 9, 2026–April 25, 2027
Venue: Frac Nouvelle-Aquitaine MÉCA, Bordeaux, France
Curator: Elfi Turpin
Website: Frac Nouvelle-Aquitaine MÉCA