Lee Bae Solo Exhibition 《En attendant: Waiting》

En attendant: Waiting
Lee Bae Solo Exhibition
Museum SAN (Director Ahn Young-joo), operated by the Hansol Cultural Foundation, presents “En attendant: Waiting,” a solo exhibition by Korean contemporary artist Lee Bae, from 4/7 (Tue) to 12/6 (Sun). This is the first solo exhibition by a Korean artist since Museum SAN opened. Grounded in the museum’s founding philosophy of harmony between nature, art, and space, the artist’s visual language, both distinctly Korean and universal, offers visitors diverse experiences and expands their reflections.
Issu du feu, which can be interpreted as ‘From Fire,’ supports the eaves of Museum SAN with massive charcoal pillars. By repeatedly stacking and joining individual pieces of charcoal, the sculpture forms a structure in which a single mass and countless individual units coexist. For Lee Bae, charcoal signifies creation and dissolution, and the cycle of life. The texture of charcoal powder, absorbing and reflecting light, reveals not simply black but a profound depth of blackness. In 2023, a large charcoal sculpture measuring 6.5m was also installed at Rockefeller Center in New York, USA.
Brushstroke is a work that expresses bodily movement and traces of time through brushstrokes made from meticulously compressed charcoal powder. The brushstroke serves as a medium for discovering deep philosophical reflections on dissolution and traces, life and death, memory and silence. Furthermore, the surfaces incorporate calligraphic abstraction to realize a Korean form of monochrome painting, revealing the beauty of restrained empty space and the powerful sculptural qualities of black. Arranged in the space with 16 two-dimensional works facing each other in groups of 2, this installation of surfaces bearing enormous brushstrokes offers visitors the experience of walking through a landscape.
*Source: Museum SAN