The current exhibit is very groovy, too. On July 14, 2011 Ogilvy Art celebrated the debut of "Flights of Genius," a series of permanent murals by Stephen Powers celebrating some of the famous quotes of agency founder, David Ogilvy, considered by many to be the father of modern advertising. "Big Ideas Are Usually Simple Ones" and "Tolerate Genius" are two of ten permanent Powers murals, which now adorn the stairwell at Ogilvy's 11th Avenue headquarters, the Chocolate Factory.

"As the curator, I facilitate our connection world-wide to media arts, internet art, video art, sculpture, painting and more," explains Jun in the bright Ogilvy cafeteria one afternoon. "This is a special program designed to connect the community at Ogilvy, which encourages a culture of pervasive creativity, to other mediums of contemporary expression and ideas. The goal is to stimulate, provoke dialogue and inspire the imagination. And there's a practical aspect to it as well: people in the advertising world work incredibly hard - and very long hours - and they don't necessarily have a lot of time to visit galleries, museums, installations...so Ogilvy became proactive in bringing all kinds of art to their employees and the public too."

All day, and pretty much seven days a week (by choice), Jun Lee researches, observes and documents art in all its forms, saving pictures and notes mainly to her blog for future reference. Jun is informed, smart and engaging, and to say she is enthusiastic about her work is an understatement. "I'm an art tourist and a total art geek," says Jun. She smiles when one suggests it's a glamorous job - one that recently took her to the Venice Biennale, and will find her at the Frieze Art Fair in October. "If I weren't curating for my livelihood, " laughs Jun, "I would be doing exactly the same thing on my own every day! The more I learn about the art world, the more fascinated I become, and the more I want to know about."

Jun's magnificent obsession began early and has been deepening for years. She was surrounded by art and its practitioners from a young age as the daughter of an artist and a writer. Seeking more creative freedom, her dad (the writer) moved the family from Jun's native Seoul, South Korea to South America when Jun was seven. Then at sixteen, Jun came to New York City with her immediate family; she was fluent in Spanish and Korean, but knew not one word of English. "That was really challenging," remembers Jun, "to come to New York at that age and not know the language. A teenager is under so much pressure anyway, to fit in. I worked so hard to learn English, I graduated from ESL as an English speaker in 6 months. I was told it was a record!"

Jun chose Benjamin N. Cardozo High School in Queens over La Guardia Arts though many young, aspiring artists would certainly have made the opposite choice. Jun says, "As a kid, my vision of American high schools came from the movies, and I think I was looking for something sweeter and a little less urban as an introduction." Today she considers that decision really fortuitous. At Cardozo, she met art teacher Douglas Potter, who had created a professional level, advanced studio environment at the school. Potter, who had a personal goal to get one student every year into Cooper Union, encouraged everyone to apply to the Cooper Union Saturday Outreach Programs for public high school students. Jun attended every Saturday and summer session devotedly for four years, talking art field trips, receiving instruction in the arts, plus classes in professional portfolio preparation.

Jun says, "It was at Cooper that I began to meet many artists, from well known to up and coming and some amazing people who weren't even a blip on the screen yet. I started to feel my future was not in creating art, but in putting people and projects together...I'm sure I couldn't have identified myself as a producer, then, but that's essentially what I am. An artist really needs to enjoy solitude. It's a very spiritual process, to be a vessel and to be quiet in order to receive the message. But for me, there is nothing worse than being alone in the studio! I love to observe people and follow them around. I really found out I liked to interact with artists, and I certainly have a passion for it."

Jun received a degree in Fine Arts from Pratt Institute for Printmaking and eventually she was hired by Ogilvy and joined the art-buying department. She had an extensive database and knowledge of artists she began amassing as a teen; when the idea for Ogilvy Art was born, Jun was appointed to the position of Art Curator.

When Jun arrived in New York City, her taste ran to artists like Haring and Basquiat, Patti Smith and the Ramones. To this day, she loves controversial and otherwise thought-provoking art. She's co-curating the next Ogilvy Art exhibit with Edward Winkleman and Murat Orozobekov, founders of the Moving Image Art Fair. It's an exhibit of video art, and she describes it as: Live Video presents a selection of works that feature technology as it touches life. "It will actually be quite literal: beautiful moving pictures which one can experience as they pass through the space, rather than having to sit down and watch something unfold," explains Jun. Since the Ogilvy exhibits remain installed for many months, it's crucial to choose pieces people can live with for a long time.

Jun Lee is now lives in a New York City neighborhood where she can hear woodpeckers in the morning. She reads a ton, both online and traditional media. She doesn't watch television, as she prefers to empty her mind when she gets home. When pressed, she admits, laughing, that she really doesn't rest from the art world when she's at home – she's usually online doing research, reading or blogging.

Jun expects her future to hold....ART! "It keeps me up at night! Between my job, which I can't wait to go to every day, to the anxiety that I might actually miss a show somewhere. It's just in my blood. You can trace so much history by seeing the art of the time. I am so excited that I can be part of what's happening today."

When asked whom her favorite artists are right now, Jun laughs freely and says, "My favorite artists change on a daily basis." Then she quotes David Ogilvy: "Encourage innovation. Change is our lifeblood, stagnation our death knell."

Jun Lee's amazing art blog, ART AND STUFF I DIG, can be found at: http://junleenyc.tumblr.com/

© Betsyann Faiella 2011
Photo: Gina Vecchione

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