Lee Ufan

To behold a painting or sculpture by the Korean artist and philosopher Lee Ufan is to feel suspended in a single breath longer than seems biologically possible. Whether consisting of an isolated brushstroke on canvas or an installation of carefully counterpoised rocks and steel plates, each work is an encounter between interior and exterior that produces a lasting reverberation. While the artist – also a prolific writer and critic – has deep roots in the Korean avant-garde, associated with the Mono-ha group in the late 1960s and the Dansaekhwa school of monochrome painting in the 1970s, in latter decades, his dedication to his singular vision has garnered him solo exhibitions at international institutions including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., and the Château de Versailles. In this video, the 84-year-old master grants Art Basel access to his tranquil studio enclave in Kamakura, Japan, for a meditation on creativity, the primacy of nature, and the end of man. Lee Ufan is represented by Kukje Gallery, Seoul; Pace Gallery, New York; kamel mennour, Paris; Lisson Gallery, London; and SCAI The Bathhouse, Tokyo.