Four new sculptures from Long Tail Halo, a series by renowned Korean artist Lee Bul, have been installed on the facade of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) in New York. This marks the first time a Korean artist’s work has been showcased on the museum's façade at the Met.

Since 2019, the Met has annually displayed installation works by globally acclaimed artists on its building exterior, and starting this year, the initiative is presented as "The Genesis Facade Commission" through a partnership with Genesis.

This exhibition is Lee Bul's first large-scale project in the United States in 20 years. Through these new sculptures with forms that are both classical and modern, she raises questions about the human pursuit of "perfection," a desire that has persisted throughout history.

The new works consist of two human-like sculptures and two animal-like sculptures, crafted using labor-intensive techniques with materials such as polycarbonate, showcasing Lee's signature meticulous handiwork.

The two human figures positioned on either side of the museum’s main entrance combine elements reminiscent of Greco-Roman classics, Cubism, and Futurist masterpieces, evoking the Met’s own collection. The two sculptures beside them, inspired by animals that served as Lee’s guardians, depict creatures bending over cascading fragments of prismatic shards.

The artworks presented in this exhibition symbolize, both independently and in dialogue, the abiding human desire for progress and perfection, while hinting at the failures and repercussions inherent to these pursuits.

Regarding the title Long Tail Halo, Lee commented, "It can be approached as words related to time, material, and spirit," and emphasized the importance of "feeling how these three words interact with one another."

The exhibition, “The Genesis Facade Commission: Lee Bul, Long Tail Halo,” will be on view until May 27 of next year.

References

• 메트로폴리탄 미술관, 더 제네시스 파사드 커미션: 이불, Long Tail Halo (Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Genesis Facade Commission: Lee Bul, Long Tail Halo) 
• 제네시스, 제네시스-뉴욕 메트로폴리탄 미술관 파트너십 첫 번째 전시 개막

Ji Yeon Lee has been working as an editor for the media art and culture channel AliceOn since 2021 and worked as an exhibition coordinator at samuso (now Space for Contemporary Art) from 2021 to 2023.