Chicago, IL
What’s a man? What’s a gay man? What’s a South Korean gay man? Plenty of people believe strongly that they know the answers to these questions; it is this sureness that compels others to work so hard at proving the fallibility of the very questions themselves. The performance practice of Sungjae Lee is exemplary in this respect, and I wish it as required viewing for anyone who thinks they know what no one can ever really know beyond pigeonholing and stereotyping. Watch Lee flex his clay six-pack until it collapses; see him transfer chest hair from a hirsute lover to his own smooth torso; watch him laboriously make and then smash dozens of “Yellow Hairy Balls.” With grossness and humor and a deep sense for tactility and affect, he willingly uses his own body to ends beyond its own.
—Lori Waxman 2020-02-01 5:59 PM