Lee Wen is a contemporary Singapore artist who is well-known for his work in performance art. His performances are deeply engaged in the social and political complexities of the region. This is exemplified in perhaps his most famous series, “Journey of a Yellow Man”, in which he painted his body with yellow paint, a symbolic reference to his ethnic identity.

iPRECIATION is presenting a preview of Lee Wen’s solo exhibition at Art Basel Hong Kong 2014 (May 15 – 18). The preview will be held in Singapore, at iPRECIATION. Selected photographs from his performances will be showcased, including ‘Splash!’, ‘Dreamboat’, ‘Journey of a Yellow Man No.2’, ‘Journey of a Yellow Man No.11’ and ‘Strange Fruit’. Acrylic on canvas body prints from Lee Wen’s ‘Anthropometry Revision’ series as well as selected drawings will also be at the preview.

Installation works which will be exhibited include ‘Art vs Art’ and ‘Ping Pong Go-Round’. The latter, which consists of a donut shaped ping pong table, will only be exhibited at Art Basel Hong Kong 2014 in the ‘Encounters’ section.

About the artist:

Lee Wen (b. 1957) is a Singaporean multidisciplinary artist working on social identity themes. After leaving a banking career to enroll at LASALLE College of the Arts, Lee graduated with a Masters of Fine Art in 2006. Lee Wen is a member of The Artists Village and the Black Market performance collective. He was co-organizer of Future of Imagination, an international performance art event in 2003, and also initiated R.I.T.E.S.-Rooted in the Ephemeral Speak, a platform to develop and promote performance art, discourse, and discussion in Singapore in 2009. He has held numerous solo exhibitions and participated in various international group shows, biennales and festival. He was the recipient of Singapore’s Cultural Medallion in 2005. Lee Wen has exhibited widely, with his most recent solo exhibition “The Breath of a Blade” at the Jendela Visual Arts Space Esplanade, Singapore in 2013 as well as “Lee Wen: Lucid Dreams in the Reverie of the Real” by the Singapore Art Museum in 2012.

-iPreciation

Image: © Lee Wen
Courtesy of the artist and iPreciation