Lee Ufan: Response

Lee Ufan’s latest exhibition at London’s Lisson Gallery includes six new paintings and four works on paper from a new series entitled “Response“, produced in recent years from the artist’s studio in Paris.

These minimal white canvases are defined by singular sweeps of acrylic, expanding on his concept to anchor the work to “the encounter”, a moment in time and space when the brush marks the canvas. While a development from his “Dialogue” series, these new works adopt a refined palette of more complex, earthier tones, with enhanced movement within the expressive strokes.

Lee’s practice has always been deeply philosophical – inspired by a profound meditative practice where each work aligns the brushstroke and the breath – but these works are marked by a period of intense reflection for Lee.

This is his first exhibition in London since the unveiling of his outdoor public sculpture at The Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens.

From April 2022, Lee Ufan Arles, a permanent exhibition centre for Lee Ufan’s paintings and sculptures, will open to the public in the Hotel Vernon in the heart of the city of Arles. This private mansion, built between the 16th and 18th centuries, was acquired by the Lee Ufan Foundation to become the venue for a presentation of the artist’s work in the same way as those already open in Naoshima (Japan) and in Busan (South Korea). The Japanese architect Tadao Ando has collaborated on the redovelopment of the building.

Lee Ufan: Requiem has recently opened across the city’s Alyscamps, a large Roman necropolis, curated by Alfred Pacquement. Here, the Korean artist’s Relatum sculptures enter into dialogue with the ancient sarcophagi of the city, with works dotted along the path leading to the Saint-Honorat church, an unfinished Romanesque building, and in the chapels.