Installation view of
《Lee Bul: From 1998 to Now》 ©Leeum Museum of Art. Photo: Jeon ByungcheolLeeum Museum of Art presents 《Lee Bul: From 1998 to Now》, a major survey
of Lee Bul—one of the most significant figures in Korean contemporary art,
through January 4, 2026.
Lee Bul has explored, through her
experimental works spanning performance, sculpture, installation, and
two-dimensional media, the intricate relationships between body and society,
humanity and technology, nature and civilization, as well as the dynamics of
power that surround them. Her practice reflects on humanity’s past and present
while opening up expanded ways of thinking about the future.
Installation view
of 《Lee Bul: From 1998 to Now》 ©Leeum Museum of Art. Photo: Jeon ByungcheolBeginning with early iconic series such as Cyborg,
Anagram, and the karaoke installation, the exhibition
focuses particularly on Mon grand récit series, a body of
architecturally scaled sculptural installations that Lee has developed since
2005. Also featured are works from her more recent Willing To Be
Vulnerable and Perdu series, alongside numerous
drawings and maquettes that provide insight into the artist’s imaginative and
exploratory process, as well as her latest sculptural work.
Taken together, these works highlight Lee’s
sustained investigation into the relationship between humans and technology,
utopian modernity, and humanity’s aspirations and failures in its enduring
pursuit of perfectibility and progress. The exhibition unfolds as a layered,
allegorical landscape of individual and collective memory, historical
fragments, and diverse sociocultural and political references, inviting
audiences on a journey that is at once physical, psychological, and
speculative.
Installation view
of 《Lee Bul: From 1998 to Now》 ©Leeum Museum of Art. Photo: Jeon ByungcheolCo-organized by Leeum Museum of Art and M+
in Hong Kong, 《Lee Bul: From 1998 to Now》 will open at Leeum in the fall of 2025, followed by its presentation
at M+ in March 2026, and travel to major international institutions through the
fall of 2027. In collaboration with the world-renowned art publisher Thames
& Hudson, Lee Bul’s first monograph will be published, systematically
presenting her artistic universe.
This unprecedented endeavor—simultaneously
releasing a multilingual volume alongside an international touring
exhibition—marks a turning point that firmly situates her practice within both
Korean and global art discourses. The monograph will be published in English,
Korean, and Chinese, with a French edition to follow.
