Press Release 2018/08/02

Lee Kit ‘We used to be more sensitive.’
September 16 (Sunday) – December 24, 2018 (Monday/national holiday), 2018[1] ⓒLee Kit, courtesy the artist and ShugoArts

This autumn, the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art will present Lee Kit ‘We used to be more sensitive.,’ the first exhibition tobe held at a Japanese museum by the Hong Kong-born and Taipei-based artist. Born in 1978, Lee Kit creates works that
constantly explore the expressive potential of painting. These include a series of hand-painted cloth paintings that hecreated early in his career. Lee took ordinary pieces of fabric and painted them with checkered patterns and other designs.
They were then used as tablecloths, curtains, sheets and for other purposes. By being simultaneously everyday objects andabstract paintings, Lee allowed each cloth to be seen as a "representational painting" of a cloth with the functionality of atablecloth, etc., thereby radically expanding the concept of a "painting." Later, in 2013, Lee was chosen to represent Hong
Kong at the 55th Venice Biennale where he presented an exhibition that occupied space both inside and outside of theHong Kong pavilion. Lee attracted much international attention and was included by The Wall Street Journal as one of "fiveartists to watch."
In recent years, as seen in his exhibitions at the Shiseido Gallery (2015) and ShugoArts (2017), Lee has been focusing on
installations in which he incorporates a wide range of media such as drawing, painting, projected light, video, furniture andeveryday objects, treating the entire exhibition space as if it were a painting created in muted colors.
It has been 20 years since Hong Kong's return to China. Against the backdrop of the city's political, economic and cultural
uncertainties, Lee has never stopped questioning himself through the medium that is art. For each of his exhibitions heldtill now, he has quietly insinuated himself into the atmosphere and feeling of the city and place where it is held to create
works that are extremely site-specific and that resonate with the people who see them. In that sense, the Hara Museum
presents Lee with an ideal space with which to work, in both the temporal and spatial sense, given its original existence as apersonal residence, it's survival during WWII, its subsequent conversion into a museum following its occupation by GHQ
and its 40 years of history since.

[2] ⓒLee Kit, courtesy the artist and ShugoArts

It is not about the past.
After all, everything is in one place and nothing can really be changed.
It is a waste of time, probably is a good thing.
One day, even wishful thinking becomes obsolete. This day has come already. Probably it was the day when we last danced
to a pop song from the radio. At least, deep in our heart, we were dancing and we were deeply touched. After the weeping
or laughing, it's gone. Obsoleteness might fade away but something has gone too. Don't you wish?
We are looking for a way out. Look into the bright side, there is almost nothing in there except a handful of people who aresurprisingly full of hopeless hopes. They are not even lying. (Don't get it wrong, somewhere where the sunlight shone is notnecessarily the bright side.)
It is about a moment when you see everything a little clearer. Like gazing at a scenery through a half-transparent veil and all
details become clear!
This is obsolete too. We will soon realize again that we are ridiculous. Otherwise, we are mentally dead. We used to be moresensitive.
－Lee Kit－
Artist Profile

Photo: Shigeo Muto

Born in Hong Kong in 1978, Lee Kit obtained his MFA degree from the Chinese University ofHong Kong in 2008. Lee currently uses Taipei as his base, but often resides and creates art atdifferent places within Asia, America and Europe. His work is actively exhibited at museums,
galleries and other art spaces. In 2013, he represented Hong Kong at the 55th Venice Biennale,and in 2016, held simultaneous solo exhibitions at the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, USA)and S.M.A.K. (Ghent, Belgium). In 2017, he participated in the exhibition All Watched Over by
Machines of Loving Grace at the Palais de Tokyo (Paris, France). In Japan, he has held three solo
exhibitions at ShugoArts (2010~) and Shiseido Gallery (The Voice Behind Me, 2015), and has
participated in group shows such as Hiroshima Trilogy: 70th Anniversary of the Atomic Bombing/Part 3
Discordant Harmony (2015) at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art.

Exhibition Details
Title: Lee Kit ‘We used to be more sensitive.’
Dates: September 16 (Sunday) – December 24 (Monday/national holiday), 2018
Venue/Organizer: Hara Museum of Contemporary Art
4-7-25 Kitashinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 140-0001 Tel: 03-3445-0651
E-mail: info@haramuseum.or.jp Website: http://www.haramuseum.or.jp
Mobile site: http://mobile.haramuseum.or.jp Blog: http://www.art-it.asia/u/HaraMuseum
Twitter: http://twitter.com/haramuseum (in Japanese only/account name: @haramuseum)
Grant provided by: MRA Foundation
Supported by: Shiseido Company, Limited
Cooperation provided by: ShugoArts
Hours: 11:00 am – 5:00 pm, Wednesdays until 8:00 pm (5:00 pm if a national holiday)(last entry 30 minutes beforeclosing)
Closed: Mondays (except September 17, 24, October 8 and December 24), September 18, 25 and October 9
Admission: General 1,100 yen; Students 700 yen (high school and university) or 500 yen (elementary and junior high); 550
yen for those over 70; Free for Hara Museum members and for students through high school every Saturday during theschool term; 100 yen discount per person for groups of 20 or moreDirections to the museum: 5 minutes by taxi or 15 minutes on foot from JR Shinagawa Station (Takanawa exit); or fromthe same station take the No.96 bus, get off at the first stop (Gotenyama), and walk 3 minutes*Free Japanese-language tours are given by a museum curator every Sunday and national holiday, starting at 2:30 pm andlasting about 30 minutes. No reservation is required. Free mini-tours in English are also available upon request.
Related Event: Meet the Artist: Lee Kit September 16 (Sunday) 2:00 – 3:30 pm at The Hall at the Hara Museum
For reservations: Please send an email to event@haramuseum.or.jp with your name, contact number and number ofaccompanying persons. *Reservation will be accepted from August 28 (Tuesday).
Images for Publication*Please include the credit along with the respective caption.
*Please do not trim or alter the images. Putting text over the images is prohibited.

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[3] Only the wind from the solo exhibition Not untitled at ShugoArts, 2017 ⓒ Lee Kit, courtesy ShugoArts (reference image)[4] Installation view of the solo exhibition Hold your breath, dance slowly at The Walker Art Center, 2016 ⓒ Lee Kit, courtesy the artist
and ShugoArts (reference image)
Upcoming Exhibition
Sophie Calle, "Exquisite Pain" from the Hara Museum Collection (tentative title) January – March, 2019
Press Enquiries
Contact: Junko Watanabe / Yasuko Kajita
T. +81.3.3280.0679
E. press@haramuseum.or.jp