SEOUL.- Esther Schipper announced the representation of Lee Bae.
Lee Bae was born in 1956 in Cheong-do, Korea. He received his BFA and MFA in Fine Arts at Hongik University in 1981 and 1986. The artist lives and works between Paris and Seoul.
The artist was awarded Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France (2018), 4th National Association of Art Critics Award (2013), Artist of the Year, Korean Cultural Center, Paris (2009), and Artist of the Year, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (2000).
Lee Bae's work honors the rituals and traditions of Korean folk culture and craft. While he uses wood, fire, and Hanji (Korean Mulberry paper) to produce sculptures, installations, drawings, and assemblages, his main medium is charcoal. The artist employs it as a transformational material, drawn from the elements and history of Korea, imbued with a rich aggregate of personal, cultural and spiritual associations. Lee Bae transforms charcoal into large-scale sculptures, assembled as wall-mounted surfaces akin to paintings, turned into ink that captures the physicality of the artist’s brush work.
The representation of Lee Bae is in partneship with Johyun Gallery, Busan.
Syzygy, Lee Bae's first solo exhibition with the gallery, opens on September 11, 2025 at Esther Schipper, Berlin, during Berlin Art Week.
Lee Bae’s selected solo exhibitions include: Lee Bae – La Maison de la Lune Brûlée, Wilmotte Foundation, Venice (2024); Lee Bae, Gallery Johyun, Busan (2023); Souffle d‘Encre, Perrotin, Shanghai (2022); Lee Bae, Indang Museum of Daegu, Daegu (2021); Union, Phi Foundation, Montreal (2021); Venice Wood Water, Wilmotte Foundation, Venice (2019); Plus de Lumière, Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul-de-Vence (2018); Overstated & Understated, Paradise Art Space, Incheon (2018); La Cohue, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Vannes (2016); Issu du feu, Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire (2016); Suspens, Domaine de Kerguéhennec, Bignan (2016); Carte Blanche à Lee Bae, Musée national des arts asiatiques – Guimet, Paris (2015).
The artist’s work is held in collections including: National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Gwacheon; Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul; Busan Museum of Art, Busan; Daejeon Museum of Art, Daejeon; Daegu Art Museum, Daegu; Jeju Museum of Art, Jeju; Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul; Clayarch Gimhae Museum, Gimhae; Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Saint-Étienne; Gyeongnam Art Museum, Gyeongnam; Fondation Colas, Paris; Privada Allegro Foundation, Madrid; Baruj Foundation, Barcelona; Ministry of Culture and Communication, Paris; Fonds National d’art Contemporain, Paris; Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Paris; Fondation Carmignac, Paris; Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul de Vence; Musée Cernuschi, Paris; Musée National des Arts Asiatiques – Guimet, Paris; Musée des Beaux-Arts – La Cohue, Vannes.
