Lee Ufan is the subject of an eponymous solo exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof, Germany. Spanning Lee’s artistic practice for over five decades, this comprehensive retrospective presents approximately 50 works, including paintings, sculptures, and installations, by the prominent figure of Japan’s Mono-ha and Korea’s Dansaekhwa movements.

Lee Ufan played a crucial role in establishing and developing the Mono-ha school, an avant-garde art movement that originated in Japan in the late 1960s. As a key pioneer of the movement, Lee has examined the inherent characteristics of materials and their relationships, focusing on the encounter between the self and the other as well as the “encounter with the world as it is.” At the core of his practice is the exploration of the spatial and physical relationship between what he creates and does not, as well as between what he paints and what he chooses to leave unpainted.

The exhibition introduces a diverse array of Lee's work, including the reenactments of his early works, such as Fourth Structure B (1968) and Landscape I (1968), alongside works from his representative painting series, From Point (1973–1979) and From Line (1972–1983). Also featured is his iconic Relatum series, exploring the fluid relationship between natural materials like stone and earth and industrial materials like steel and canvas. Notably, the large-scale installation Relatum – The Mirror Road (2016/2023) is juxtaposed with Rembrandt's masterpiece, Self-Portrait with Velvet Beret (1634), from the collection of the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin.

Regarding Rembrandt's work, Lee has remarked, “[…] they hold a wondrous glow, not from outside but from within. […] So when I stand before Rembrandt's self-portraits, the very core of my soul trembles.” Constantly reflecting Lee's artistic philosophy throughout, the exhibition examines and challenges the binary distinctions between East and West, nature and artificiality. Lee Ufan continues until April 28, 2024.