Inside Lee Bul’s First Major London Solo Show At The Hayward Gallery
By Something CuratedOpening today, Wednesday 30 May, Southbank Centre’s Hayward Gallery launches an ambitious exhibition of work by South Korean artist Lee Bul. Taking over the entire Hayward Gallery, Lee Bul: Crashing – the artist’s first major solo show in London – brings together 118 of her works from the late 1980s to the present day in order to explore the full range of her pioneering and highly inventive practice.
Bul draws on diverse sources that include science fiction, 20th century history, philosophy and personal experience, whilst making use of deliberately ‘clashing’ materials that range from the organic to the industrial, from silk and mother of pearl, to fibreglass and silicone. Shaped by her experience of growing up in South Korea during a period of political upheaval, much of her work is concerned with trauma, and the way that idealism or the pursuit of perfection – bodily, political or aesthetic – might lead to failure, or disaster. Since the early 2000s, she has focused on architectural utopianism, bringing together references to both real and imagined architecture in sprawling sculptures of futuristic cityscapes.
The exhibition presents 16 works that have never been seen before, including the newly completed Scale of Tongue (2017–18), an intricate sculptural work that makes subtle reference to the Sewol Ferry Disaster of 2014; a series of silk velvet paintings; and three new works from the artist’s ongoing Anagram series, upholstered in leather and fabric. Also on show are a range of Lee Bul’s studio drawings and sketches, which provide an insight into the artist’s creative process, and the way that her complex three-dimensional works are developed.
The exhibition’s curator, Stephanie Rosenthal, said: “Through this exhibition we hope to take visitors on a journey of utopian exploration; the show is designed to transport the visitors to another reality, place and time. I am particularly interested in the way Lee Bul’s work addresses both the aspirations of democracy and its potential failure and I think approaching these topics is more relevant than ever today.”
Opening with sculptural works from the artist’s iconic Cyborg, Monster and Anagram series, Lee Bul: Crashing also features reconstructions of the artist’s wearable fabric sculptures and documentation of her early performances, which were often staged in public places. In Sorry for suffering – You think I’m a puppy on a picnic? (1990), for example, Lee Bul walked the streets of Tokyo clothed in one of her elaborate, monstrous soft sculptures, interacting with the people she encountered. In these performances, and in other key early works, Lee Bul reflects on the status of women in Korean society, and the ways in which popular culture – in both the East and West – informs and shapes our idea of ‘feminine’ beauty.
Ralph Rugoff, Director of the Hayward Gallery said: “We are particularly delighted to present this pioneering artist during the Hayward Gallery’s 50th anniversary year. Lee Bul’s ongoing engagement with utopian modernism pairs perfectly with the democratic aspirations of the Hayward’s own adventurous architecture. Throughout the exhibition Lee Bul uses the distinctive design of the gallery as a collaborator rather than a backdrop.”
The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of talks and events including a discussion between Bul and Rugoff followed by a live performance by Korean-Canadian visual artist Zadie Xa on Friday 1 June.
Feature image: Installation view of Lee Bul, Willing To Be Vulnerable – Metalized Balloon, 2015-2016 at Hayward Gallery, 2018, © Lee Bul 2018, Photo: Linda Nylind | Images courtesy Southbank Centre