PRESS RELEASE 2021.12.7

To members of the press

Exhibition Announcement

Lee Ufan

15th Anniversary of the National Art Center, Tokyo
It is with great pleasure that we present a major retrospective by Lee Ufan (born in 1936), acontemporary artist who has received a great deal of attention internationally as a prominent
member of the Japan-based Mono-ha group from August 10 (Wed.), 2022 at The National Art Center,Tokyo (Roppongi, Tokyo). The exhibition commemorates the facility's 15th anniversary.
Born in Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea, Lee attended
Seoul National University and moved to Japan in 1956.
He subsequently studied philosophy at Nihon Universityin Tokyo, eagerly absorbing a wide range of thought andliterature from the East and the West. In the '60s, Leedeveloped an interest in contemporary art, and began
devoted himself to making his own works toward end ofthe decade.
Attempting to overcome the uncertainty of vision, Lee
combined natural and artificial materials in a temperatemanner, spearheading a movement that came to becalled Mono-ha (lit. "School of Things"). Moreover, Leeevolved a worldview based on the notion that all things
are interrelated not only in his visual art but in also in
his writings. The profound ideas Lee expressed an essay
called "From Objects to Being," which was awarded theLee Ufan installing Relatum - The Shadow of theStars, Angoulême, France, 2021 Photo©Lee Ufan

Bijutsu Shuppan-sha Art Criticism Prize in 1969,
became the theoretical pillar for Mono-ha.

Lee's works liberate art from the world of images, subjects, and meaning, and raise questions
about the relationship between things, and things and people. This proves that the entire world
exists synchronically and is mutually related. Oddly enough, the threat of the novel coronavirus has
forced us to change our anthropocentric worldview. Lee's highly revelatory thought and practiceprovides us with insights about how we might escape this unprecedented crisis.
In recent years, Lee has become increasingly active abroad, holding solo exhibitions at some of
the world's most renowned museums including the Guggenheim (New York, USA, 2011) and Centre
Pompidou-Metz (Metz, France, 2019). Meanwhile in Japan, the Lee Ufan Museum, designed by thearchitect Ando Tadao, opened on the island of Naoshima in Kagawa Prefecture in 2010. However,Lee's last major solo exhibition at a domestic museum was Lee Ufan: The Art of Margins, held in2005 at the Yokohama Museum of Art.
In light of this situation, the present exhibition will be the artist's first major retrospective to beheld in Tokyo. The exhibition assembles Lee's most important works, including everything from his
earliest pre-Mono-ha pieces, which considered the problem of vision, the Relatum series, whichchanged the concept of sculpture, and his highly spiritual paintings, which produce a tranquil rhythm.
In addition to showcasing Lee's past works, enabling us to trace the trajectory of his creation practice,
the exhibition is also scheduled to include his latest ground-breaking efforts.

PRESS RELEASE 2021.12.7■Exhibition Overview
・Exhibition Title:

Lee Ufan
15th Anniversary of the National Art Center, Tokyo・Date:

August 10 (Wed.) – November 7 (Mon.), 2022

・Opening Hours:

10:00-18:00*Closed on Tuesdays*10:00-20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays(Last admission 30 minutes before closing)・Venue:The National Art Center, Tokyo, Special Exhibition Gallery 1E・Organized by:

The National Art Center, Tokyo; The Asahi Shimbun・With the cooperation of:

SCAI THE BATHHOUSE・Inquiries:+81-(0)47-316-2772 (Hello Dial)

・Website:https://www.nact.jp/english/exhibitions/2022/leeufan/＊The exhibition will later travel to the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, where it will be held fromearly December 2022 to February 2023.
Media Inquiries
The National Art Center, Tokyo - Office of Communications and International Affairs
7-22-2 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-8558
TEL: +81-(0)3-6812-9925 (Weekdays 10:00 - 17:00) FAX: +81-(0)3-3405-2532 Email: pr@nact.jp