Inside the Studio: JAKUPSIL
- Art Dealer Street
- Jun 23
- 6 min read
JAKUPSIL is not a traditional gallery, and that is exactly the point.
Founded and led by Brett Lee, Principal of JAKUPSIL, the collective operates between art, architecture, real estate, curatorial practice, and cultural production. Its name comes from the Korean word 작업실, meaning studio, atelier, or laboratory — a place where things are made, tested, reworked, and allowed to evolve.
This idea of the working space sits at the center of JAKUPSIL’s identity. For Lee, art is not only the finished object presented to the public. It is also the conversations, experiments, installations, relationships, and even failures that happen before an exhibition opens. JAKUPSIL treats cultural production as a living process, one shaped by artists, architects, curators, collectors, property owners, and audiences.
Working between New York and Korea, JAKUPSIL activates spaces through exhibitions, artist-led initiatives, spatial interventions, and collaborative projects. Rather than forcing every site into the clean language of a white cube, the collective looks closely at what a space already holds — its architecture, its past, its limitations, and its possibilities.
In this week’s Inside the Studio, Brett Lee reflects on the meaning of JAKUPSIL, the relationship between art and architecture, the role of temporary spaces, working across New York and Korea, and the collective’s experience at Clio Art Fair September 2025.
Read on to learn more in an exclusive interview with Brett Lee, Principal of JAKUPSIL:
The name JAKUPSIL comes from the Korean word for studio, atelier, or laboratory. How does this idea of a “working space” shape the way your collective thinks about art, architecture, and cultural production?
JAKUPSIL, or 작업실, is a Korean term that refers to a studio, atelier, or laboratory. It suggests a transdisciplinary space dedicated to the process of making across art, architecture, and cultural production.
I was drawn to that openness because I did not want JAKUPSIL to be defined only as a gallery or design studio. For us, art is not only the finished object on display. It is also the conversations, experiments, installations, relationships, and failures that happen before something reaches the public.
The name reflects our belief that cultural production is an ongoing process rather than a fixed outcome. As an architect and gallerist, I have always been interested in how ideas take shape through space. JAKUPSIL became a framework where artists, architects, curators, collectors, and property owners could come together and create something that would not have existed otherwise.
JAKUPSIL brings together architecture, curatorial practice, real estate, and exhibition-making. How did this transdisciplinary model begin, and what gap in the art world were you hoping to respond to?
The model emerged naturally from my own professional background. I spent years working in architecture while staying involved in the gallery business. Over time, I noticed that many spaces in New York sat vacant between tenants, while many artists, curators, and gallerists struggled to find affordable venues to exhibit their work.
Rather than seeing architecture, real estate, and art as separate fields, I began thinking about how they could support one another. JAKUPSIL grew from that idea.
We work with property owners to activate underused spaces, while giving artists opportunities to present work that may not fit within a traditional commercial gallery model. I was not necessarily trying to fill a single specific gap. I was responding to a condition I kept encountering and building a platform flexible enough to adapt to different situations.
Your projects often activate spaces through exhibitions, spatial interventions, and artist-led initiatives. What do you look for in a space before turning it into a site for art?
Every space has its own history, limitations, and possibilities.
I am often more interested in those existing conditions than in creating a perfect white cube. The first thing I look for is character. Sometimes that comes from architecture, sometimes from location, and sometimes from traces left behind by previous occupants.
Rather than forcing a space to behave like a gallery, we try to understand what it already is and build from there.
JAKUPSIL works with a wide range of artists, from emerging voices to internationally recognized names. What qualities do you look for when deciding to collaborate with an artist?
The most important quality is commitment to the work itself.
I am less interested in career stage than in whether an artist has developed a clear and thoughtful practice. I am often drawn to artists who are willing to take risks, challenge their own assumptions, and continue evolving.
Curiosity is important. So is generosity. The best collaborations happen when artists see exhibitions not only as opportunities to present their work, but also as opportunities to engage in dialogue with other professions and with audiences who may not already be familiar with contemporary art.
Many of your exhibitions seem deeply connected to ideas of memory, material, identity, and transformation, such as TRACE: Forms That Do Not Close. How do you build a curatorial narrative that allows different artists and mediums to speak together?
More often, I start by looking closely at individual practices and identifying points of resonance between them. With TRACE: Forms That Do Not Close, each artist approached memory, material, and transformation differently. Some worked through painting, others through installation, sculpture, or mixed media.
The goal was not to make their works illustrate a single idea, but to create conditions where meaningful relationships could emerge. The most rewarding moments occur when viewers discover unexpected connections that even the curator may not have anticipated.
JAKUPSIL has a strong connection between New York and Korea. How does working across these two cultural contexts influence the artists you support and the exhibitions you create?
Both cities have shaped my perspective in different ways.
Korea has a strong culture of artistic discipline and material experimentation, while New York offers an environment where diverse practices and ideas constantly intersect. Working between these contexts allows JAKUPSIL to introduce artists to audiences they might not otherwise encounter.
Sometimes that means bringing Korean artists to New York. Other times, it means introducing American or European artists to Korean collectors, institutions, and conversations.
What interests me most is not cultural translation in a simple sense, but creating genuine exchanges where artists can engage with different audiences and contexts.
JAKUPSIL participated in Clio Art Fair with artists including Anikoon, Paul Choate, Dohwa Kim, and Adam Umbach. What was that experience like for the collective, and how did the fair’s focus on independent and direct artist visibility connect with JAKUPSIL’s own mission?
Clio Art Fair was a natural fit because it prioritizes independent voices and encourages direct engagement between artists and audiences.
The fair offered an opportunity to present artists whose practices are distinct from one another but share a strong sense of individuality. One of the most rewarding aspects was watching visitors spend time with the artists and hearing conversations develop organically around the work in this small fair setting.
JAKUPSIL is not strictly a gallery, nor is it simply an independent artist group. We sit somewhere in between. In that sense, Clio’s model connected closely with our mission. It allowed us to present artists directly, while keeping space open for conversation, experimentation, and visibility.
Looking ahead, JAKUPSIL is expanding through residencies, art fairs, and new artist platforms. What kind of future do you imagine for the collective, especially within today’s changing gallery and art fair landscape?
I hope JAKUPSIL remains flexible.
The art world is changing rapidly, and I think smaller organizations often have the advantage of being able to adapt. Rather than focusing on growth for its own sake, I am interested in creating meaningful opportunities for artists, curators, designers, architects, and others working across creative fields.
That may take the form of exhibitions, residencies, temporary space activations, collaborations with institutions, or entirely new formats that have yet to emerge.
JAKUPSIL’s work begins with space, but it does not end there.
Under Brett Lee’s direction, the collective treats space as a living material — something that can hold memory, produce dialogue, and create unexpected encounters between artists and audiences. Its projects remind us that exhibitions are not only about what is placed on the wall or installed in a room. They are also about the conditions that make exchange possible.
By bringing together architecture, curatorial practice, real estate, and cultural production, JAKUPSIL challenges the idea that art must exist within one fixed structure. Instead, it opens a more fluid model: one where a vacant space can become a site of experimentation, where artists from different contexts can meet new audiences, and where cultural production remains active, responsive, and alive.
In a changing art world, JAKUPSIL’s strength lies in its refusal to stay still. It is a studio, a laboratory, a platform, and a bridge — a working space where ideas continue to take shape.
You can learn more about JAKUPSIL Collective and its work via these links: Website: JAKUPSIL Instagram: @jakupsilny
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