JooHyun Lee Makes European Solo Debut at Milan Design Week 2026, Hosted at the Historic Palazzo Litta
The Anxiety of Displacement Transformed into a ‘Search for Balance amid Instability ‘… “Caltrop” and “Yeom” Series Objects on Show
“Functional Art Meets Luxury: Emerging as a New Proposition in the Global High-Value Consumer Market”
Palazzo Litta, Milan | April 20–26 — Collectible Objects Encountered in a Private Boudoir
JooHyun Lee, a metal artist and designer (Lecturer at Yonsei University; Director of JHL Sustain) whose practice explores balance through weight, material, and use, dissolving the boundary between sculptural form and functional utility through meticulous handcraft, will present her first solo exhibition at Milan Design Week 2026, the world’s largest design festival.
Presented as part of the official program of international design platform MoscaPartners, the exhibition will be held from April 20 to 26 in the Boudoir — a historically intimate reception room — within Palazzo Litta, a landmark building at the heart of Milan.
Core Concept: ‘Balance’ as a Search for Balance amid Instability
The defining keyword running through Lee’s practice is balance. Having spent twelve years abroad, she carried the persistent unease of never fully belonging — neither in Korea nor in the countries she lived in. It was from this displacement that she turned to art as a kind of search for balance within instability.
The objects she creates stand precariously on narrow bases, generating a visible sense of tension. At the same time, they are designed so that the act of placing and using them in everyday living spaces leads the viewer toward emotional steadiness and comfort. This approach is both a methodology of ‘Functional Art’ — one that erases the boundary between ‘product’ and ‘artwork’ — and a narrative that completes the viewer’s sensory experience.
Works on Show: From Caltrop to Rocky Isle, a New Horizon for Functional Objects
The exhibition presents two of the artist’s signature series rendered in diverse materials including metal, wood, and raw stone: the Caltrop Series and the Yeom Series.
The Caltrop Series takes its formal motif from the caltrop, one of the oldest weapons in recorded warfare, reinterpreting it as a shoehorn and candleholder. Despite their tall, slender structures and narrow footprints, the objects stand unsupported, giving visual form to the concept of balance held under tension. Each piece is the product of over forty hours and twenty stages of handwork — a testament to exceptional craft mastery.
The Yeom Series draws its name from a native Korean word meaning ‘a small island of rock.’ The works — tables and stools — pair a base cast in metal from actual natural stone with a smooth metal top shaped after the stone’s cross-section, evoking the image of an island emerging from a boulder. Through the tension between the texture of the natural and the precision of the constructed, the series explores what it might mean to be in a state of ideal equilibrium.
Global Industry Perspective: The Economic Value of the Luxury Art Industry and the Collectibles Market
Within the shifting landscape of global industry, metal craft and the art industry are rapidly being reconstituted as a sector that connects high-value manufacturing with the premium consumer market — moving well beyond their traditional cultural and artistic domain. As the expansion of the luxury consumer market converges with rising demand for personalized products and value-driven consumption rooted in brand storytelling, metal craft-based products are evolving into ‘asset-class consumer goods’ and a core vehicle for brand extension.
This shift is already generating tangible results in global markets. Craft-based product lines aligned with luxury brands, high-end interiors, and the collectibles industry are recording double-digit annual growth, with certain segments securing higher margin structures than conventional manufacturing. Layered on top of this, the proliferation of digital platforms and cross-border e-commerce is lowering the barriers to global entry for small-scale craft practitioners and brands, accelerating the industry’s expansion further.
According to the The Art Basel & UBS Art Market Report 2026, global art market sales reached $59.6 billion in 2025 — a 4% increase year-on-year, signaling a recovery. Particularly notable is the strong performance of decorative art, antiques, and collectible design: global dealers in the decorative art and antiques segment recorded an average 7% rise in sales, outpacing growth in certain areas of fine art.
Within the high-end consumer market, structural realignment is accelerating, driven by the growing influence of wealthy collectors and the entry of the luxury sector. Collector purchasing behavior is also shifting markedly — extending beyond traditional painting toward design and decorative collectible objects that combine utility with aesthetics. Against this backdrop of market transformation, Functional Art of the kind embodied by Lee’s Balance Objects is emerging as a proposition of distinctive commercial and aesthetic potential.
Exhibition Highlight: A Historic Space Meets Korean Craft
Palazzo Litta, where the exhibition takes place, is a symbolic venue opened to the public only during major cultural events. The Boudoir — a space historically reserved for private reception — aligns perfectly with the intimate energy that the works carry. Lee has said: “I want to share the tension of objects that stand against gravity within a space that breathes with history,” adding that she hopes “to communicate widely, through my work, the balance of a life lived at full stretch — precarious yet earnest — over the past four years.”
Exhibition Information
Title: Balance Objects
Artist: JooHyun Lee
Venue: Boudoir, Palazzo Litta, Milan, Italy
Dates: Monday, April 20 – Sunday, April 26, 2026
Editor’s Note This exhibition marks a milestone in demonstrating how Korean metal craft can move beyond its value as handcraft alone — expanding into the global high-end consumer market as a concept-driven collectible object. Within a global industry trend defined by the convergence of luxury consumption and functional art, the taut narrative of ‘balance’ that JooHyun Lee has forged represents not only an aesthetic achievement, but a compelling economic reference point for the design industry at large.
By Eden Hyewon Jang, BCC Global Media Content Manager