Exhibition/event has ended.
Lee U-Fan Exhibition
Kaikai Kiki Gallery
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Artists
Lee U-Fan
Since the late 1960s, Lee Ufan has been praised both in and outside of Japan as one of the leading artists of the Monoha conceptual art movement. In recent years, however, he has moved beyond this framework to become a one-of-a kind artist occupying his own singular territory. In 2010, a museum of his work opened on Naoshima Island in Kagawa Prefecture, and the Guggenheim Museum in New York presented a solo exhibition for him 2011. His work is also currently on view in a special exhibition at the Palace of Versailles. At present, Lee Ufan divides his time between Paris and Kamakura, devoting his days to his work.
This new exhibition will feature two installations. In keeping with the Monoha theory of exploring the work’s relationship with its immediate environment, the installations are composed of stones, sand, canvas, and other materials, which are for the most part untouched by the artist’s hands. In doing so, Ufan creates a synergy with the audience and its surroundings, allowing him to transform the results into a space for contemplation. In contemporary art terms, there are few acts more poetic or ambitious in their challenge to the thread of art history. The gallery hopes visitors will experience this space where the past, present, and future become one and the artist’s fantastic imagination is allowed to bloom.
Curator’s Statement: Holding an exhibition with Lee Ufan, both for Kaikai Kiki as a gallery and for myself, is an act of great meaning and the product of six years of communication with the artist as well as collaboration with Shiraishi Contemporary Art. Monoha remains a singular movement within not only Japanese history but also global art history. Its challenge to the hegemony of Western art was built upon a firm understanding of the Western context and offered a simultaneous inhalation of and escape from that context, leaving a trail within the art world that was the cause of much debate. At the same time, the fact remains that its deconstruction of the Western context is difficult to fully understand and was lacking in organization. For this reason, the reaction within the art world was also quite varied in its level of appreciation. However, in February 2012, the exhibition “Requiem for the Sun: The Art of Mono-ha”, curated by Mika Yoshitake at Blum & Poe Gallery, rewove the movement’s more challenging elements into a tapestry that now sits at the center of the art scene. The man responsible for carving the intellectual core of that movement was Lee Ufan, and I have long dreamed of exhibiting his work. I am now able to showcase the meaning of the East within contemporary art through the realization of that dream.
— Takashi Murakami
This new exhibition will feature two installations. In keeping with the Monoha theory of exploring the work’s relationship with its immediate environment, the installations are composed of stones, sand, canvas, and other materials, which are for the most part untouched by the artist’s hands. In doing so, Ufan creates a synergy with the audience and its surroundings, allowing him to transform the results into a space for contemplation. In contemporary art terms, there are few acts more poetic or ambitious in their challenge to the thread of art history. The gallery hopes visitors will experience this space where the past, present, and future become one and the artist’s fantastic imagination is allowed to bloom.
Curator’s Statement: Holding an exhibition with Lee Ufan, both for Kaikai Kiki as a gallery and for myself, is an act of great meaning and the product of six years of communication with the artist as well as collaboration with Shiraishi Contemporary Art. Monoha remains a singular movement within not only Japanese history but also global art history. Its challenge to the hegemony of Western art was built upon a firm understanding of the Western context and offered a simultaneous inhalation of and escape from that context, leaving a trail within the art world that was the cause of much debate. At the same time, the fact remains that its deconstruction of the Western context is difficult to fully understand and was lacking in organization. For this reason, the reaction within the art world was also quite varied in its level of appreciation. However, in February 2012, the exhibition “Requiem for the Sun: The Art of Mono-ha”, curated by Mika Yoshitake at Blum & Poe Gallery, rewove the movement’s more challenging elements into a tapestry that now sits at the center of the art scene. The man responsible for carving the intellectual core of that movement was Lee Ufan, and I have long dreamed of exhibiting his work. I am now able to showcase the meaning of the East within contemporary art through the realization of that dream.
— Takashi Murakami
Schedule | Jul 25 (Fri) 2014-Aug 21 (Thu) 2014 Opening Hours Information
Opening Reception Jul 25 (Fri) 2014 18:00 - 00:00 | ||||||
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| Fee | Free | ||||||
| Website | http://en.gallery-kaikaikiki.com | ||||||
| Venue | Kaikai Kiki Gallery http://en.gallery-kaikaikiki.com/ | ||||||
| Location | B1F Motoazabu Crest Bldg., 2-3-30 Motoazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0046 | ||||||
| Access | 8 minute walk from exit 1 at Hiroo Station on the Hibiya line, 13 minute walk from Azabu-juban Station on the Toei Oedo or Namboku line. | ||||||
| Phone | 03-6823-6038 | ||||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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