Expansive Lee Bul Exhibition Explores Nearly 30 Years of Work
For artists who have been working for many years, survey exhibitions are a valuable opportunity for us to understand their work as a single work of art. What fonts are there? Are there recurring motifs visible from project to project? artist Lee Paul Influential personality in Korean Contemporary arta major survey exhibition of her work in Liom Museum of Art It is a journey into her artistic mind. The presentation is titled Les Paul: From 1998 to nowspanning nearly three decades of her creative output.
Lee’s debut came in the late 1980s, when she created a sensation with her experimental works that responded to the controversial social and political situation in Korea. From there, her artistic voice expanded into performance, sculpture, installation and two-dimensional works. In Divergent Media, she investigates the dualities and often the paradoxes within them. This includes humans, technology, nature and civilization. To examine them more fully, she looks to the larger mechanisms of power that give these ideas shape and form.
The exhibition begins with works produced in the late 1990s and extends to the present, featuring approximately 150 pieces in total. But the show doesn’t take a chronological path; Rather, it unfolds as an “unpredictable landscape” as visitors embark on an open-ended, multi-layered journey. Along the way there are urban ruins, bunkers, towers, metal airships and mirrored mazes. This experience is richly layered and non-linear, allowing for exploration across time and space.
the My big story It is the core of the exhibition, having been part of Lee’s practice since 2005. This work examines the contradiction of wanting things to be perfect (utopia) versus how they actually are (disillusionment). The title of the work is a reference to François Lyotard’s idea of the collapse of the “grand narrative” or grand narrative. Metanarrative is a social theory that posits that a comprehensive account or explanation of smaller events legitimizes a major idea. Essentially, these small stories are compiled into a complete story and provide a structure for belief. Lee reconfigures “The Big Encounter” using irony and complexity. Her references for these topographical compositions include the likes of utopian literature, romantic landscape paintings, and the historical context of modern and contemporary Korea.
Other notable pieces include a karaoke installation as well Les Civitas Solis IIa large-scale mirrored installation that displays countless reflections to create a distorted and disorienting view of everything within.
Eugene Kim, co-founder and editor-in-chief of My Modern Met, had the opportunity to experience the exhibition during his visit to Seoul. “Immersive environments of glass and reflective surfaces turn spectators into participants,” he shares. “The scale, precision and play of reflection create a powerful sense of wonder. The exhibition sits naturally within Leeum’s site-specific landscape, alongside installations such as Olafur Eliasson’s Gravity ladders And Kimsoga To breathe-for-day“.
Les Paul: From 1998 to now On display at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, until January 4, 2026.
Artist Lee Paul is considered an influential figure in contemporary Korean art, and a major survey exhibition of her work at the Leeum Art Museum is a journey into her artistic mind.
Photo: Yoon Hyung Moon. Courtesy of the Liom Museum of Art
The presentation is titled Les Paul: From 1998 to nowspanning nearly three decades of her creative output.
Les Paul installation show: 1998 to present. Leeum Museum of Art, 2025. (Photo: Jeon Byung-cheol. Courtesy of Leeum Museum of Art)
“Sunday Citizen II” 2014.
Polycarbonate sheet, acrylic mirror, LED lights, electrical installations. Dimensions are variable. Installation view of the MMCA Hyundai Motor Series 2014: Les Paul, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea, 2014. Commissioned by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea and sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company. Courtesy of the artist and BB&M. © Lee Paul. (Photo: Jeon Byung-cheol, courtesy of the artist and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea)
“After Bruno Taut (Beware of the Sweetness of Things)” 2007.
Crystal, glass and acrylic beads on stainless steel rebar, aluminum and copper mesh, PVC chains, steel and aluminum, reflective film, synthetic hair, stainless steel tubing, aluminum and acrylic. 258 x 200 x 250 cm. Installation view of “In Every New Shade”, Fondation Cartier des Arts Contemporaires, Paris, 2007-2008. Courtesy of Thaddeus Ropac Gallery, London • Paris • Salzburg • Milan • Seoul. © Lee Paul. (Photo: Patrick Grace Courtesy of the artist and the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art)
The exhibition begins with works produced in the late 1990s and extends to the present, featuring approximately 150 pieces in total.
“Bunker (M. Bakhtin)” 2007/2012.
Fiberglass on stainless steel frame, plywood, fabric-covered urethane foam, acrylic mirror, electronics, and interactive sound works. 300 x 400 x 280 cm. Installation view of “In Every New Shade”, Fondation Cartier des Arts Contemporaires, Paris, 2007-2008. Courtesy of the artist and BB&M © Lee Bul. (Photo: Patrick Grace Courtesy of the artist and the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art)
“Via Negativa” 2022 (reconstruction of 2012 works).
Wood, acrylic mirror, two-way mirror, LED lighting, wood stain, English and Korean editions of The Origin of Consciousness in the Collapse of the Dualistic Mind. almost. 290 x 600 x 600 cm. Installation view of Lee Bul: 1998 to Present, Leeum Art Museum, Seoul, 2025. Courtesy of the artist and BB&M. © Lee Paul. (Photo: Jeon Byung-cheol, courtesy of the artist and Leeum Museum of Art)
“Via Negativa” 2022 (reconstruction of 2012 works).
Wood, acrylic mirror, two-way mirror, LED lighting, wood stain, English and Korean editions of The Origin of Consciousness in the Collapse of the Dualistic Mind. almost. 290 x 600 x 600 cm. Installation view of Lee Bul: 1998 to Present, Leeum Art Museum, Seoul, 2025. Courtesy of the artist and BB&M. © Lee Paul. (Photo: Jeon Byung-cheol, courtesy of the artist and Leeum Museum of Art)
“Via Negativa” 2022 (reconstruction of 2012 works).
Wood, acrylic mirror, two-way mirror, LED lighting, wood stain, English and Korean editions of The Origin of Consciousness in the Collapse of the Dualistic Mind. almost. 290 x 600 x 600 cm. Installation view of Lee Bul: 1998 to Present, Leeum Art Museum, Seoul, 2025. Courtesy of the artist and BB&M. © Lee Paul. (Photo: Jeon Byung-cheol, courtesy of the artist and Leeum Museum of Art)
The show does not take a chronological path. Rather, it unfolds as an “unpredictable landscape” as visitors embark on an open-ended, multi-layered journey.
“Willing to be vulnerable – Metal Balloon”, 2015-2016/2020.
Cloth, PET film, air blower, electric wire. 300 x 1700 x 300 cm. Installation view of Lee Bul: 1998 to Present, Leeum Art Museum, Seoul, 2025. Courtesy of the artist, BB&M, Hauser & Wirth © Lee Bul. (Photo: Jeon Byung-cheol, courtesy of the artist and Leeum Museum of Art)
“Obadi V”, 2019.
Cast steel (collected from a destroyed checkpoint in the DMZ), Optium Museum acrylic, electronic display board, LED light, CPU, DC-SMPS, dimmer, electrical wires. 400 x 300(⌀) cm. Courtesy of the artist and BB&M. © Lee Paul. (Photo: Jeon Byung-cheol, courtesy of the artist and Leeum Museum of Art)
“My big story: Crying over stones…” 2005.
Polyurethane, foamex, artificial clay, stainless steel and aluminum bars, acrylic sheets, wood laminates, acrylic paint, varnish, electrical installations, lighting. 280 x 440 x 300 cm. Installation view of “Lee Bul: From me, only yours”, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2012. Collection of HITEJINRO Co., Ltd © Lee Bul. (Photo: Watanabe Osamu, courtesy of Mori Art Museum, Tokyo)
Les Paul: From 1998 to now On display at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea, until January 4, 2026.
“Gravity is Greater than Velocity I (reconstructed),” 2000 (reconstructed 1999 work).
Polycarbonate panels on stainless steel frame, electronic equipment. 214 x 124 x 184 cm. Collection of the Liom Museum of Art. © Lee Paul. (Photo: Jeon Byung-cheol. Courtesy of Leeum Museum of Art)
Take a peek at the beauty of Leeum Art Museum:
Exhibition information:
Lee Paul
Les Paul: From 1998 to now
September 4, 2025 – January 4, 2026
Liom Museum of Art
60-16 Itaewon-ro 55-gil, Yongsan District, Seoul, South Korea
Lee Paul: Website
My Modern Met has granted permission to display images from the Leeum Art Museum.
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