Joon Lee, the 15th Executive Director of the Busan Biennale ©Busan Biennale Organizing Committee
On May 14, the Busan Biennale Organizing
Committee officially approved art critic Joon Lee as the 15th Executive
Director of the Busan Biennale.
Lee graduated from the Department of
Western Painting at Hongik University and earned both a Master’s degree in
Aesthetics and a Ph.D. in Art Criticism from the same university. He began his
career in art criticism after receiving the New Art Critic Award from the
Korean Association of Art Critics in 1987.
In 1990, he joined the Hoam Museum of Art
under the Samsung Foundation of Culture, later serving as Head of the
Contemporary Art Department, Chief Curator, and Deputy Director at the Leeum
Museum of Art. Throughout his career, he has contributed significantly to
elevating the global status of Korean contemporary art.
Installation view of 《A Homage to Korean Architecture-Wisdom
of the Earth》 (Leeum Museum of Art, 2016) ©Kim Bong Ryol
As a curator, Joon Lee has organized
several notable exhibitions, including 《American
Postmodern Art (1993), 《Spirit of Korean Abstract
Painting》 (1995), 《Korean
Rhapsody: A Montage of History and Memory》 (2011), and 《A Homage to Korean Architecture – Wisdom of the Earth》 (2016). From 2006 to 2021, he served as Deputy Director of the
Leeum Museum of Art, where he became widely recognized for his expertise not
only in curating exhibitions but also in art administration and institutional
management.
Lee earned his Ph.D. with the dissertation
Cultural Politics in Korean Art Regime and Exhibition
(2012), which analyzed the institutional structures of major museums and
international biennales in the U.S., Europe, and beyond. He has actively served
as an advisory committee member for leading Korean art institutions such as the
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, the Busan Museum of Art,
and the Gwangju Biennale, while continuing his work as an art critic.
Upon his appointment, the newly instated
Executive Director stated, “With Busan’s vision as a global cultural hub, I aim
to elevate the Busan Biennale into an internationally competitive and
discursive exhibition.” He also expressed his ambition to contribute to
reshaping the city’s cultural landscape through both the Busan Biennale and the
Sea Art Festival.
