Nam Center Colloquium Series | Murals Speak: Lee Qoede and the Mexican Muralists’ Vision for National Art

Attend in person or via Zoom: https://myumi.ch/e3jPZ

This lecture explores the unexpected resonance between Korean modernist Lee Qoede (이쾌대, 1913–1965) and the revolutionary spirit of Mexico’s great muralists. Lee and other Korean modernists were greatly inspired by the works of Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros, whose monumental works, like Rivera’s iconic Detroit Industry murals at the Detroit Institute of Arts, still speak powerfully today.

Through vivid comparisons, Jinyoung Anna Jin will trace how the Mexican muralists’ bold public art inspired Lee’s own vision for a national art (minjok misool) for Korea rooted in resistance, solidarity, and the everyday lives of ordinary people. By revealing this overlooked transnational connection, this talk invites the audience to see Lee’s legacy—and modern Korean art more broadly—anew as part of a larger global conversation about how art can stand on the front lines of history.

Jinyoung A. Jin, Ph.D., is the Director of Asian Art and Culture at Stony Brook University’s Charles B. Wang Center, where she curates exhibitions and public programs that explore Asian art, visual culture, and transnational histories. Passionate about connecting diverse audiences with understudied narratives, she fosters dialogue on how art, history, and politics shape our understanding of the world. Her curatorial practice critically engages the intersections of tradition and modernity across Asia, examining how visual culture navigates memory, trauma, ritual, and everyday life. Jin holds a B.A. in Art Theory from Hongik University, an M.A. in Art History from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in Cultural Analysis and Theory from Stony Brook University. She also serves on the community advisory board of PBS Thirteen/WLIW.

If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you, please contact us at ncks.info@umich.edu. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.