Lee Mingwei (b. 1964), a Taiwan-born artist living in New York, has been working internationally since the 1990s. “Lee Mingwei and His Relations” will mark Lee’s first survey exhibition featuring the most important works from his artistic practice spanning 20 years.
In the late 1990s, a new trend in contemporary art emerged which involved the participation of an audience and was called “relational art” or “relational aesthetics,” drawing much attention from around the world. This exhibition will reexamine the various kinds of “connections” through Lee’ s practice, which is often Dimensions variable discussed within the context of relational art. In Section 1, through the Eastern concepts of “void” and “in-between space,” we will look at the meaning of the words “connection” and“relationship” and the history of their interpretation. In Section 2, we will rethink the everyday acts of walking, eating, sleeping and listening, and consider, also through Zen Buddhists concepts, how the concept of “here and now” is connected to the divine providence of nature. In the final section, Section 3, we attempt to unravel Lee Mingwei, someone who crosses between Eastern and Western cultures (between Taiwan and the United States) based upon the nature of his relationships with history, culture and society, and investigate how those large frameworks of world are connected to an individual's memory.
The actual exhibits will be principally installations, with Lee providing opportunity for viewer participation at each location. Works by other artists and historical works, for the viewer to consider their relationship with Lee’ s work, will be exhibited at the same time so as make the exhibition a richer and more intellectual experience. Through participation in the work in various forms, we are also hoping this exhibition experience will connect to the mind and soul of every person who sees it.
*image (left)
The Moving Garden, 2009
Installation view: "The 10th Lyon Biennale,"
Museum of Contemporary Art, Lyon, France, 2009
Collection: Amy & Leo Shih
Photo: Blaise Adilon
© Lee Mingwei
Courtesy of Mori Art Museum
