Lee Bul's sculptures to be featured at Met's facade

Artist Lee Bul in her monster costume in Tokyp during her 12-day performance ″Sorry for suffering – You think I'm a puppy on a picnic?″ in 1990. [LEE BUL]

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) in New York will install four new sculptures by Lee Bul, one of Korea’s leading contemporary artists, in front of its building, the museum said Wednesday.

Although Korean artworks have been exhibited at The Met before, it is the first time for one to be placed at the entrance, considered the “face” of the museum.

The announcement is part of The Met’s selection of three international artists for commissions, who will each take over a different part of the building.

Kosovo-born artist Petrit Halilaj’s work will be placed on The Met’s Roof Garden, Lee at The Met Fifth Avenue’s facade and Taiwanese artist Tong Yang-tze at its Great Hall.

Lee’s works will open on Sept. 12, 2024, and stay through May 27, 2025.

“Lee will create four sculptures that combine figurative and abstract elements for the Museum’s historic niches,” The Met said in a press release.

This project is Lee’s first major U.S. project in over 20 years since her solo exhibition at the New Museum in New York in 2002.

Lee’s art spans drawings, sculptures, paintings, installations and video art, which depict sociopolitical themes related to beauty, gender issues and corruption. She has held solo exhibitions, including at the Hayward Gallery in London and the Seoul Museum of Art in Seoul and participated in the 2019 Venice Biennale.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]