Background
Ufan Lee was born on June 24, 1936 in Haman County, South Korea. In 1956, he arrived in Japan.
4 Chome-8-24 Kudanminami, Chiyoda, Tokyo 102-0074, Japan
In 1958, Lee entered Nihon University and graduated in 1961 with Bachelor of Science in Philosophy degree.
2 Chome-1723 Yarimizu, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0394, Japan
During the period from 1973 to 2007, Lee held the post of a professor at Tama Art University in Tokyo.
14 Rue Bonaparte, 75006 Paris, France
Since 1997 to 1998, he acted as an invited professor at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
4 Chome-8-24 Kudanminami, Chiyoda, Tokyo 102-0074, Japan
In 1958, Lee entered Nihon University and graduated in 1961 with Bachelor of Science in Philosophy degree.
2 Chome-1723 Yarimizu, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0394, Japan
During the period from 1973 to 2007, Lee held the post of a professor at Tama Art University in Tokyo.
14 Rue Bonaparte, 75006 Paris, France
Since 1997 to 1998, he acted as an invited professor at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
(This volume features previously unpublished essays, writt...)
This volume features previously unpublished essays, written by Lee Ufan during the period from 1967 to 2007.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0947830650/?tag=2022091-20
2007
Ufan Lee was born on June 24, 1936 in Haman County, South Korea. In 1956, he arrived in Japan.
Ufan's early years were marked by a strict Confucian upbringing, where he was tutored in East Asian brushwork. The disciplined, repetitive act of drawing points and lines — the foundation of the Chinese classical arts — would be particularly influential on his art practice later in life.
In 1956, Lee attended Seoul National University College of Fine Arts. In 1958, he transferred to Tokyo's Nihon University to study philosophy and aesthetics. In 1961, he graduated from the university with Bachelor of Science in Philosophy degree.
In the late 1960's, Lee became a prominent theorist and practitioner of Mono-ha, a Japanese art movement, that grew out of the anti-authoritarian and anti-colonialist tumult of the postwar period. The Mono-ha artists aimed to deviate from typical Western artistic practices of media manipulation, and instead juxtaposed objects and materials in such a way as to draw attention to the relationship between things and surroundings. Applying structuralism, phenomenology and Asian metaphysics in dialogue with international Post-Minimalist practices, Arte Povera, Nouveau Réalisme and Land art, Ufan worked out a radical artistic language, revolving around the notion of encounter, seeing the bare existence of what is actually before us and focusing on "the world as it is". During that period, Lee produced sculptural works, called "kōzō" or "living structures", which are distinguished by a move away from expression and toward a detached act of arranging or mediating.
In the early 1970's, Lee began exhibiting his works in different countries around the world, including West Germany and France. He took part in the 1971 Paris Youth Biennale, which introduced Mono-ha to Europe and led the artist to establish a studio in Paris that year.
During the period from 1973 to 2007, Lee held the post of a professor at Tama Art University in Tokyo. Also, since 1997 to 1998, he acted as an invited professor at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
In the wake of Abstract Expressionism in the United States and Art Informel in Europe, Ufan developed the iconic "From Point" and "From Line" series (1972–1984). In these works, he employed a monochrome palette and iterative brush strokes, moving horizontally or vertically across the canvas to chart the passage of lived time. This body of work garnered critical acclaim in Asia and became especially influential in his home country of Korea, where he became a seminal figure in the tansaekhwa (monochrome painting) school. In 1991, Lee Ufan began his series of Correspondance paintings, which consist of just one or two grey-blue brushstrokes, made of a mixture of oil and crushed stone pigment, applied onto a large white surface.
During his lifetime, Lee's works were the subjects of major exhibitions, including those at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul (1994), the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume in Paris (1997), the Samsung Museum of Modern Art in Seoul (2003), the 52nd Venice Biennale (2007), the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels (2009) and others. In 2011, he exhibited his works at the 54th Venice Biennale.
Currently, Lee Ufan divides his time between Kamakura, Japan, and Paris, France.
Ufan Lee gained prominence as a leader of first contemporary art movement in the East — Mono-Ha. Lee is best-known for his "Relatum" series, three-dimensional groups of rocks, dispersed with industrial materials, such as steel sheets, glass panes and rubber. One of his works was sold for $410,000 at Sotheby's in New York in 2010.
He received many awards, including Praemium Imperiale (2001), Ho-Am Prize (2001), Order of the Rising Sun (2009) and others. In 1991, Lee was made a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters.
In 2010, the Lee Ufan Museum was opened on the island of Naoshima, Japan.
Also, his works are kept in permanent collections of different museums, including Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Japan, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City, Museum of Modern Art, New York City, Sonja Henle-Niels Onstad Museum, Oslo and others.
(This volume features previously unpublished essays, writt...)
2007In 1965, Ufan married Kim Seong Soon.
