Korean Contemporary artist Lee Bul

Lee Bul, Cravings (Outdoor performance, Jang Heung, Korea), 1989 Courtesy of Studio Lee Bul

Active since the 1980s, Lee Bul is a sculptor and installation artist who represented Korea at the Venice Biennale in 1999. Her work is questioning and probes themes of authority, politics and society. She studied sculpture at Hongik University, and produces works that are mechanical and draw the viewer in. Famous pieces include I Need You (Monument) from 1996 which consists of a large inflated sculpture which features a photograph of Lee on the front. A series of pedals located at the bottom allow the viewer to inflate the object, linking the title and creation of the work. Other notable works include her cyborg sculpture series, which was made between 1997 and 2011. Using these cyborgs, Lee explores our fears and fascinations with the uncanny. Her work has been exhibited worldwide, in galleries such as the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, and The Power Plant in Toronto and she has a major retrospective opening at London’s Hayward Gallery this summer. Her work has received critical acclaim, and she was chosen as a finalist for the 1998 Hugo Boss Prize by the Guggenheim Museum in New York. An installation piece by Lee Bul entitled A Fragmentary Anatomy of Every Setting Sun is on permanent display in the Hara Museum ARC since 2010.