Lee Ufan

Lee Ufan (b. 1936), a key figure in the Korean Dansaekhwa movement, has dedicated his career to exploring themes of contemplation, repetition, and temporality. In 1956, after enrolling at Seoul National University, Lee withdrew from his studies just two and a half months later to pursue philosophy at Nihon University in Tokyo. His relocation to Tokyo facilitated formative encounters with fellow artists and critics, leading to the formation of Mono-ha. The movement’s writings and artworks examined spatial relationships between objects, particularly natural and industrial materials, exemplified by Lee’s ongoing “Relatum” sculpture series, which began in 1968. Parallel to his sculptural work, Lee’s paintings—including the renowned “From Line” and “From Point” series, both of which began in the 1970s—embody the principles of Dansaekhwa  through repetitive, minimal brushstrokes and meditative gestures that focus on the act of painting itself.

Lee’s works are part of many institutional collections across the world, including the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo, the Tate Modern Gallery in London, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul. The Lee Ufan Museum, which opened in Naoshima, Japan in 2010, was designed by architect Tadao Ando and is dedicated to the artist’s work. It is complemented by Space Lee Ufan at Busan Museum, established in 2015, and Lee Ufan Arles, which opened in France in 2022. In addition to his painting and sculpture, Lee is also a prolific theorist who has published extensively in the areas of art history, art criticism, poetry, and philosophy.