Lee Bul

Lee Bul (b. 1964, Yeongju, South Korea, based in Seoul, South Korea) has examined narratives of techno-optimism and utopia through her work over the past four decades. Informed by her upbringing as the daughter of dissidents during a period of political unrest, Lee takes a critical perspective towards systems of power and progress. She was one of the first South Korean artists to find an international platform in the 1990s, and continues to be known worldwide as a leading practitioner of her generation.

Working across a range of media from drawing and sculpture to video and installation, Lee’s influences include science fiction, modernist architecture and socio-political histories. For example, her feminised cyborg sculptures critique society’s desire for the “ideal” body through technological augmentations. In her works inspired by architecture, recurring motifs like fragmented mirrors reveal the dystopic decay behind humankind’s quest for perfection.

Lee obtained her BFA in Sculpture from Hongik University, Seoul in 1987. Her work is held in major collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Tate Modern, London; M+, Hong Kong; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; QAGOMA, Brisbane; Art Sonje Center, Seoul; Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. Notable solo exhibitions include My Grand Narrative (2025), Leeum Museum of Art, Seoul; Long Tail Halo (2024), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Lee Bul (2023), Gothenburg Museum of Art; Beginning (2021), Seoul Museum of Art; City of the Sun (2019), SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah; and Connect 1: Still Acts (2016), Art Sonje Center, Seoul. The artist has also participated in major international festivals including Minds Rising, Spirits Turning (2021), 13th Gwangju Biennale; May You Live in Interesting Times (2019), 58th Venice Biennale; Beyond Bliss (2018), 1st Bangkok Art Biennale; The future is already here—it’s just not evenly distributed (2016), 20th Biennale of Sydney; Burning Down the House (2014), 10th Gwangju Biennale; Not Only Possible, But Also Necessary (2007), 10th Istanbul Biennial; dAPERTutto (1999), 48th Venice Biennale; and APT1 (1993), 1st Asia Pacific Triennial, Brisbane.

Lee had her residency at the STPI Workshop in 2018, resulting in the exhibition, Prints (2023), curated by Xiaoyu Weng.