Born in Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea, 1936.
Lives and works in Kanagawa, Japan.
Emeritus professor of Tama Art University, Tokyo, Japan.
1973 – 2007 Professor of Tama Art University, Tokyo, Japan.
1990 Hwagwang, Order of Cultural Merit from Korean Ministry of Culture.
1991 Chevalier, Order of Arts and Letters from French Minister of Culture.
1997 Invited professor at Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France.
2002 Medal with Purple Ribbon from Japanese Government.
2005 Artists Summit, Kyoto, Japan.
2007 National Order of the Legion of Honour from French Government.
2009 Order of the Rising Sun from Japanese Government.
2010 Opened Lee Ufan Museum in Naoshima, Kagawa, Japan.
2015 Opened Space Lee Ufan in Busan Museum of Art, Busan, Korea.
Education
1956 Interrupted studies at Seoul National University and came to Japan.
1961 Graduated from Nihon University, Department of Philosophy, Tokyo, Japan.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2019 Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C., U.S.A.
Cahiers d’Art, Paris, France.
Centre Pompidou Metz, Metz, France.
2018 Serpentine Galleries, London, U.K.
Sokyo Gallery, Kyoto, Japan.
2017 Pace Gallery, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Centre de Création Contemporaine Olivier Debré, Tours, France.
Couvent de La Tourette, Éveux, France.
2016 Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.
Château La Coste, Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade, France.
Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, Paris, France.
Castello di Ama, Siena, Italy.
2015 Lisson Gallery, London, U.K.
Palazzo Contarini Polignac, Venice, Italy.
Pace Gallery, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Pace Gallery, London, U.K.
Pace Gallery, Hong Kong.
2014 Château de Versailles, Versailles, France.
Kaikai Kiki Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
Tatintsian Gallery, Moscow, Russia.
2013 Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature, Paris, France.
Galerie Kamel Mennour, Paris, France.
2012 Asia Society Texas Center, Houston, Texas, U.S.A.
2011 Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria.
Guggenheim Museum, New York, New York, U.S.A.
SCAI The Bathhouse Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
Gallery Hyundai, Seoul, Korea.
2010 Blum & Poe, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Galería Elvira González, Madrid, Spain.
2009 Kukje Gallery, Seoul, Korea.
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France.
2008 Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium.
Dahlem Museum, Berlin, Germany.
Pace Wildenstein, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
Lisson Gallery, London, U.K.
2007 Galerie nächst St. Stephan, Vienna, Austria.
Resonance, 52nd Venice Biennale, Palazzo Palumbo Fossati, Venice, Italy.
SCAI The Bathhouse Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
2006 Galerie Micheline Szwajcer, Antwerp, Belgium.
IBU Gallery, Paris, France.
Galerie m, Bochum, Germany.
Konggan Gallery, Busan, Korea.
Shirota Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
Gallery Muramatsu, Tokyo, Japan.
2005 Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.
The Musée d’art moderne et contemporain de Saint-Étienne Métropole, Saint-Étienne,
France.
2004 Espace d’Art Contemporain Fernet-Branca, Saint-Louis, France.
Lisson Gallery, London, U.K.
2003 LEEUM Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea.
Gallery Hyundai, Seoul, Korea.
2002 SCAI The Bathhouse Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
2001 Kunstmuseum, Bonn, Germany.
Sigong Gallery, Daegu, Korea.
Konggan Gallery, Busan, Korea.
Shirota Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
2000 Galerie m, Bochum, Germany.
Konggan Gallery, Busan, Korea.
1999 Galerie Liliane & Michel Durand-Dessert, Paris, France.
Kamakura Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
1998 Städtisches Museum im Städel, Frankfurt, Germany.
Mitaka City Gallery of Art, Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan.
Niigata City Art Museum, Niigata, Japan.
Sigong Gallery, Daegu, Korea.
Shirota Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
1997 Gallery Bhak, Seoul, Korea.
Space Shimoda, Tokyo, Japan.
Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume, Paris, France.
Lorenzelli Arte, Milan, Italy.
Gallery Hyundai, Seoul, Korea.
1996 Lisson Gallery, London, U.K.
Galerie J. Moussion, Paris, France.
Konggan Gallery, Busan, Korea.
Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
1995 Städtisches Museum, Leverkusen, Germany.
Galerie de Paris, Paris, France.
Galerie m, Bochum, Germany.
Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
1994 Fondazione Mudima, Milan, Italy.
The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea.
Inkong Gallery, Seoul, Korea.
1993 The Museum of Modern Art, Kanagawa, Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan.
Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
Shirota Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
1992 Konggan Gallery, Busan, Korea.
Galerie de Paris, Paris, France.
1991 Lorenzelli Arte, Milan, Italy.
Hara Museum ARC, Shibukawa, Gunma, Japan.
Inkong Gallery, Seoul, Korea.
Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
Gallery Ueda, Tokyo, Japan.
1990 Inkong Gallery, Seoul, Korea.
Kamakura Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
Gallery Hyundai, Seoul, Korea.
1989 Galerie de Paris, Paris, France.
Galerie m, Bochum, Germany.
Gallery Ueda, Tokyo, Japan.
Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
Shirota Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1988 The Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu, Gifu, Japan.
Galerie Anselm Dreher, Berlin, Germany.
Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy.
1987 Gallery Hyundai, Seoul, Korea.
1986 Galerie de Paris, Paris, France.
Gallery Ueda, Tokyo, Japan.
Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
Shirota Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
1985 Kamakura Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
1984 Galerie de Paris, Paris, France.
Gallery Hyundai, Seoul, Korea.
Shirota Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
1983 Gallery Ueda, Tokyo, Japan.
Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
1982 Studio Marconi, Milan, Italy.
1981 Shirota Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
1980 Gallery Ueda, Tokyo, Japan.
Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
Galerie Éric Fabre, Paris, France.
1979 Gallery Takagi, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan.
Gallery Muramatsu, Tokyo, Japan.
Jin Gallery, Seoul, Korea.
1978 Gallery Hyundai, Seoul, Korea.
Galerie m, Bochum, Germany.
Kunsthalle, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark.
The Antwerp Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium.
Shirota Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
1977 Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
Galerie Éric Fabre, Paris, France.
1976 Spectrum Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium.
Galerie m, Bochum, Germany.
1975 Galerie Éric Fabre, Paris, France.
1974 Tamura Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
1973 Tokyo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2021 White, Sokyo Gallery, Kyoto, Japan.
2020 STARS: Six Contemporary Artists from Japan to the World, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan.
2019 MINGEI NOW, Sokyo Gallery, Kyoto, Japan.
2017 Japanorama: Nouveau regard sur la création contemporaine, Centre Pompisou Metz, Metz, France.
2015 Takahashi Collection Exhibition: Mirror Neuron, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
2014 Formes Simples, Centre Pompidou Metz, Metz, France.
Making Links: 25 years, SCAI THE BATHHOUSE Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
40th Anniversary “1974”: Turning Point of Post-War Japanese Art, Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, Takasaki, Gunma, Japan.
The Mirror – Hold the Mirror up to Nature, THE MIRROR, Tokyo, Japan.
35th Anniversary Hara Museum Collection Exhibition, Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan.
2013 Parallel Views: Italian and Japanese Art from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, Rachofsky Collection, Dallas, Texas, U.S.A.
Prima Materia, Punta della Dogana, Venice, Italy.
2012 Tokyo 1955–1970: A New Avant-Garde, Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York, U.S.A.
2011 54th Venice Biennale, The World Belongs to You, Palazzo Grassi, The Personal
Structures, Palazzo Bembo, Venice, Italy.
2009 In-finitum, Palazzo Fortuny, Venice, Italy.
2008 La Sottile Linea d’ombra, Fondazione Mudima, Milan, Italy.
Sotto voce, Yvon Lambert Gallery, New York, New York, U.S.A.
2007 Elastic Taboos, Kunsthalle, Vienna, Austria.
L’Art de Monet et sa postérité, The National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan.
2005 Reconsidering Mono-ha, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan.
2003 Happiness, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan.
2002 The 4th Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery,
Brisbane, Australia.
2001 Century City, Tate Modern, London, U.K.
Mono-ha – School of Things, Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge and Newlyn Art Gallery,
Cambridge, U.K.
Le Tribù dell’arte, Galleria Comunale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome,
Italy.
2000 Sarajevo 2000, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna, Austria.
3rd Gwangu Biennale, Gwangju, Korea.
3rd Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai, China.
1999 Kunstwelten im Dialog, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany.
1998 Contemporary Art of Korea Time, Hoam Art Gallery, Seoul, Korea.
Korean Monochromism, Busan Metropolitan Art Museum, Busan, Korea.
1997 Made in France, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France.
1996 Japan 70: Matière et Perception, Le Mono-ha et la recherche des fondements de
l’art, The Musée d’art moderne et contemporain de Saint-Étienne Métropole, Saint-
Étienne, France.
1995 ASIAN-Monoha, Palazzo Vendramin, Venice, Italy.
1994 Japanese Art After 1945: Scream Against the Sky, Guggenheim Museum SoHo,
New York, New York, U.S.A.
1992 Working with Nature: Contemporary Art from Korea, Tate Gallery, Liverpool, U.K.
1990 Blau, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberg, Germany.
1987 Le Japan des avant-gardes, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou,
Paris, France.
1984 Contemporary Japanese Art after 1980, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo,
Japan.
1983 Ars 83, Helsinki, Finland.
1982 Meister der Zeichnung, Kunsthalle, Nuremberg, Germany.
Material Gets Art, Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany.
1980 Skulptur im 20. Jahrhundert, Wenkenpark, Basel, Switzerland.
1977 Documenta 6, Kassel, Germany.
1974 Japanese Art in Louisiana, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk,
Denmark.
1973 12th Sao Paulo Biennale, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
1971 7th Paris Biennale, Paris, France.
1970 Aspects of New Japanese Art, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Tokyo,
Japan.
1969 9th Japanese Contemporary Art Exhibition of Japan, Tokyo Metropolitan Art
Museum, Tokyo, Japan.
10th Sao Paulo Biennale, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Trends in Contemporary Art, The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan.
1968 Contemporary Art of Korea, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Collections
Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.
Albright Knox Museum, Buffalo, New York. U.S.A.
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Asia Society Texas Center, Houston, Texas, U.S.A.
Busan Municipal Museum of Art, Busan, Korea.
Brooklyn Museum, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Castello di Ama, Siena, Italy.
Centre Georges Pompidou, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris, France.
Commanderie de Peyrassol, Flassans-sur-Issole, France.
Chiba City Museum of Art, Chiba, Japan.
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas, U.S.A.
Donjon de Vez, Vez, France.
FNAC, Paris, France.
Fondazione Mudima, Milan, Italy.
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, U.S.A.
Fukuoka Museum of Art, Fukuoka, Japan.
Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan.
Galerie Nationale de Prague, Prague, Czech Republic.
Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
Hakone Open-Air Museum, Hakone, Kanagawa, Japan.
Hara Museum ARC, Shibukawa, Gunma, Japan.
Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan.
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C., U.S.A.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Iwaki City Art Museum, Iwaki, Fukushima, Japan.
Kröller-Müller Rijksmuseum, Otterloo, The Netherlands.
Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Nürnberg, Germany.
Kunsthaus Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
Kunstsammlungen der Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art, Sakura, Chiba, Japan.
Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea.
Lee Ufan Museum, Naoshima, Kagawa, Japan.
Le Musée de Sculpture en Plein Air, Paris, France.
M+ Museum, Hong Kong.
Miyagi Museum of Art, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.
Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu, Gifu, Japan.
Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama, Kanagawa, Japan.
Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, Takasaki, Gunma, Japan.
Museum of Modern Art, Shiga, Otsu, Shiga, Japan.
Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama, Wakayama, Japan.
Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan.
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York, U.S.A.
The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan.
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea.
National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan.
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany.
Niigata Prefectural Museum of Art, Niigata, Japan.
Ohara Museum of Art, Okayama, Japan.
Pinault Foundation, Venice, Italy.
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia.
Seoul Municipal Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea.
Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan.
Sezon Museum of Modern Art, Kitasaku, Nagano, Japan.
São Paulo Art Library, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Situation Kunst, Bochum, Germany.
Sonja Henle-Niels Onstad Museum, Oslo, Norway.
Space Lee Ufan, Busan, Korea.
Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Städtisches Museum Leverkusen, Leverkusen, Germany.
Städtisches Museum im Städel, Frankfurt, Germany.
Stuttgart Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, Germany.
Sundheim Collection, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Shizuoka, Japan.
Takamatsu City Museum of Art, Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan.
Tate Modern Gallery, London, U.K.
Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, Utsunomiya, Tochigi, Japan.
Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan.
Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Toyota, Aichi, Japan.
Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design, Toyama, Japan.
Utsunomiya City Museum of Art, Utsunomiya, Tochigi, Japan.
Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.
Awards
2006 47th Mainichi Art Prize, Japan.
2001 13th Premium Imperial Prize (Painting), Tokyo, Japan.
Ho-am Prize in the Arts, Korea
2000 UNESCO Prize, Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai, China.
1994 Japan Cultural Design Award
1979 Excellence Award, 1st Henry Moore Prize Exhibition, Hakone, Kanagawa, Japan.
National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto Prize, 11th Tokyo International Printing Biennale, Tokyo, Japan.
1977 National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo Prize, 13th Contemporary Japanese Art Exhibition, Tokyo, Japan.
1969 Awarded prize for critical writing ²From Object to Being², Tokyo, Japan.