Lee Ufan 

이우환 (b. 1936)은 현대미술의 동향을 이끈 한국 작가 중 세계 적으로 가장 잘 알려져 있는 거장이다. 1968년 일본의 전위 미술 모노하를 주도한 그는 사물과 공간의 관계성에 집중하며, 거의 조작하지 않은 산업 재료와 돌과 같은 자연 물질을 사용하여 재료의 본질적 성격과 물질성을 부각시키는 파격적인 작품을 선보였다. 특히 <관계항>(1968-) 연작은 이러한 개념을 보여주는 그의 대표 설치 작품으로, 서로 다른 순수한 물질의 만남이 만들어 내는 형상과 그들이 놓인 공간에서 총체적으로 나타나는 시공간의 관계성을 강조한다. 1970년 중반으로 들어서며 이우환은 추상 회화에 더욱 집중하게 된다. 점이나 선을 안료가 없어질 때까지 반복적으로 그리며, 안료가 채워진 공간과 사라진 공간 사이의 관계를 드러낸 <점으로 부터>와 <선으로 부터>가 대표적이다. 여기서 두드러지는 정신적 초월 상태를 지향하는 반복성, 작가의 제스처와 과정이 화면 속에 고스란히 남겨지며 만들어낸 촉각성은 단색화의 특징을 보여주는 중요한 자료로 여겨진다. 1980년대부터 그의 독자적인 회화 세계가 더욱 확장되는데,  작가의 역동적인 호흡으로 채워진 <바람으로 부터>(1982–86),  <바람과 함께> (1987–91), 작가와 물질 자체의 관계를 탐구한 <조응> (1991–2006), <대화> (2006–)가 있다. 이미지의 재현을 멀리하고, 오로지 인간, 물질, 공간이 하나의 시간 속에서 서로 상응하는 관계를 보여주는 이우환의 시각적, 철학적 세계는 계속해서 이어지고 있다. 

Internationally acclaimed Korean artist, Lee Ufan (b.1936) is a key figure whose works have opened a new visual aesthetic for contemporary art. Pioneering the Japanese avant-garde art movement, “Mono-ha,” in 1968, Lee demonstrated unconventional three-dimensional works using raw elements including industrial materials and natural objects such as stones. Displaying these objects together in a specific place, Lee focused on the relationships between materials and space while highlighting the essential characters of each element and its materiality. In his work, Relatum (1968–), which was most representative of this style, Lee Ufan explored the tension between two different materiality and their dynamic interaction within their surroundings. By the mid-1970s, Lee Ufan introduced unique abstract paintings, From Point and From Lineseries, which were created by repeatedly drawing dots or lines until the pigment gradually disappeared across the canvas, revealing the relationship between space, emptiness, and stillness. His refined technique of endless repetitions to transcend the psychological and spiritual state, and the tactility of materials created by his minimalistic gestures in each process, became one of the most signature and profound elements of Dansaekhwa, Korean monochrome paintings. Since the 1980s, Lee impressively expanded his pictorial language through From Winds (1982–86), With Winds (1987–91), Correspondence (1991–2006), and Dialogue (2006–). 

By rejecting the paradigm of representation, Lee Ufan continues to explore the diverse relational philosophy through his unique oeuvre, encouraging physical and meditative interactions between human, material, space, and time.

Born 1936 in Kyongsang-namdo, South Korea

Lives and works in Kamakura, Japan and Paris

Education 

1956  Seoul National University, moved to Japan

1961  Nihon University, Philosophy, Tokyo, Japan 

1973– 2007  Professor at Tama Art University, Tokyo, Japan

Selected Solo Shows 

2019

Lee Ufan: Open Dimension, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., USA 

Lee Ufan: Acorns and Wildcat, Cahiers d’Art, Paris, France

Lee Ufan: Traces, Cahiers d’Art, Paris, France

Lee Ufan, Dia:Beacon, New York, USA

Lee Ufan: Inhabiting Time, Centre Pompidou-Metz, France

2018

Lee Ufan, Pace Gallery, New York, USA

Lee Ufan: Relatum – Stage, Serpentine Sackler Gallery, London, UK

2017

Lee Ufan chez Le Corbusie, Couvent de la Tourette, Éveux, Rhone-Alpes, France

Lee Ufan: Pressentiment, Centre de Création Contemporaine Olivier Debré, Tours, France

Lee Ufan, Jardin François 1er, Tours, France

Lee Ufan: The Ha Jung-Woong Museum of Art’s Inaugural Exhibition, Gwangju Museum of Art, South Korea

2016

Lee Ufan: Les Fragments et la Fenêtre, Galerie de Sèvres, Cité de la céramique, Paris, France 

Lee Ufan, Kamel Mennour Gallery, France

Sculpture in the Courtyard: Lee Ufan. The Cane of Titan, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, USA

Selected Group Shows

2020

Three Masters of Contemporary Art: Takamatsu Jiro, Wakabayashi Isamu, and Lee Ufan, Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan

STARS: Six Contemporary Artists from Japan to the World, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan

2019

Images and Dialogues: Lee Ufan / Wang Shuye x Du Dakai / Liu Jude, Visual Art Center, Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

The Challenging Souls: Yves Klein, Lee Ufan, Ding Yi, Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China

2018

Nature Knows No Pause, Massimo de Carlo, Milan, Italy

2017

Japanorama. Nouveau regard sur la creation contemporaine, Centre Pompidou-Metz, France

Everything at Once, The Store Studios, London, UK

Who Can Be Strangers? The Art of Mono-ha and Dansaekhwa, Adrian Rosenfeld Gallery, San Francisco, USA

2016

Lee Mingwei and his Relations: The Art of Participation, Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand

When Process Becomes Form: Dansaekhwa and Korean Abstraction, Boghossian Foundation, Villa Empain Brussels, Belgium

Selected Public Collections

Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, New Zealand

Busan Museum of Art, South Korea

Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA

Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France

Chiba City Museum of Art, Japan, Yokyo

Dallas Museum of Art, Texas, USA

Dia Art Foundation, New York, USA

Fondazione Mudima, Milan, Italy

Fukuoka Museum of Art, Japan, Tokyo 

Galerie Nationale de Prague, Czech Republic

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA

Hakone Open-Air Museum, Kanagawa, Japan

Ho-Am Art Museum, Seoul

Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo, Japan

Iwaki City Art Museum, Fukushima, Japan

Kröller-Müller Rijksmuseum, Otterloo, Netherlands

Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Germany

Kunsthaus Zurich, Switzerland

Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany

Kunstsammlungen der Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany

Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul

Lee Ufan Museum, Naoshima, Japan

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, USA

Le Musée de Sculpture en Plein Air, Paris, France

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Japan

The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA

Museum of Modern Art, Shiga, Japan

Museum of Modern Art, Toyama, Japan

Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama, Japan

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia

The National Museum of Art, Osaka, USA

National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Japan 

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul

Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany 

Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia

Seoul Municipal Museum of Art, Korea

São Paulo Art Library, Brazil

Situation Kunst, Bochum, Germany

Sonja Henle-Niels Onstad Museum, Oslo, Norway

Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Germany

Städtisches Museum Leverkusen, Germany

Städtisches Museum im Städel, Frankfurt, Germany 

Sunjae Museum of Art, South Korea

Tate, London, UK

Total Contemporary Museum, Seoul, South Korea

Worcester Museum of Art, Massachusetts, USA