Lee Bul is a contemporary sculpture and installation artist who began showcasing her work in the mid 1980s. Bul studied sculpture at Hongik University in Seoul. At that time, Bul invented her own version of postmodernism that addressed issues such as gender and sexuality in public performances. These performances challenged a patriarchal society and its tolerance of feminist views. In 1987 Bul graduated from Hongik University.
In 1997 Bul had her installation, Majestic Splendor, presented at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Majestic Splendor was a collection of sequin decorated raw fish which rotted as time went on to represent the deterioration of beauty. The fish were removed shorty after the exhibition opened due to the terrible smell. This was Bul's first international exhibition until 1999 when she represented Korea in the Venice Biennale.
Between 1996 and 1999, Bul created three mixed media installations that incorporated photography and large scale inflatable forms. The pieces feature a large photograph of Bul wearing provocative lingerie on an inflatable form (either phallic or monster). Each form has foot pedals for the viewers to use to inflate. The use of these pedals draws attention to society's contribution to traditional ideals.
Between 1997 and 2011, Bul put together a series of cyborg sculptures starting with Cyborg Red and Cyborg Blue. Her work features decapitated anthropomorphic forms that may be missing an arm, leg, or in some cases both. Bul has said that cyborgs are a trope for our fear and fascination with the uncategorizable and the uncanny. These are sexualized and mutilated figures that fuse female forms and machine components.
On Every New Shadow was a sculptural exhibition shown at the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain in Paris from 2007-08. The sculptures in the installation were suspended in mid-air or anchored to the floor, creating an environment that engages the surrounding architecture. Bul's art, especially pieces from this exhibition, were inspired and influenced by German architect and urban planner Bruno Taut. Taut's ideas of buildings being giant mountains of glittering glass ornamentation resonate with Bul's ideas of an ideal society or fantasy landscape. Bul has stated that her pieces "evoke the spirit of Bruno Taut".
Bul's solo exhibitions have spanned the globe in places like New York, Toronto, Paris, and Tokyo. She was also selected as a finalist for for the 1998 Hugo Boss Prize by the Guggenheim Museum in New York. A permanent installation by Bul was was unveiled in 2010 at the Hara Museum ARC called A Fragmentary Anatomy of Every Setting Sun. This piece is the largest in her Infinity series of sculptural works that use a lightbox. The piece is encased in steel and uses two-way mirrors to create the illusion of fragmentary architectural structures repeating and receding into infinite space.
From Me, Belongs To You Only was Bul's first large-scale solo exhibition in 2012 at the Mori Art Museum. It contained 45 works, 150 drawings, and 50 models. At the end of the exhibition, a piece titled The Secret Sharer sits on a table overlooking Tokyo. The piece is a dog shaped sculpture made of various reflective materials and modeled after Bul's pet of 17 years. The large amount of materials pouring out of the animal's mouth may hint at the disclosure of the time and memories it shared with her.
In 2014, Bul created an exhibition called Via Negativa II- an elaborate collection of mirrors and metal that force the viewer into direct conflict with their own perspectives.
Lee Bul's works are artificial and richly ornamental, which also expresses her concern for the human body and interest in the cyborguesque form. She has an engagement with fractured tropes and narratives of utopian modernity, specifically what she sees as the "melancholic traces of the collapse and disintegration of progressive projects to reinvent the world". With the use of mixed media, Bul addresses the dualism between a highly traditional society and technological advances. Her pieces also explore trends in popular culture, themes of feminine identity, and science fiction fantasy. The social and political history of her home country where she grew up is also reflected in her work as it progressed from military dictatorship to democracy. The architectural elements in Bul's work function as allegories for the state of society and humankind's desire for perfection.
"Our plans about utopia are undoubtedly going to fail. But as human beings, just because it's destined to fail doesn't mean we should stop dreaming about it. We need to keep trying, don't we?"- Lee Bul, 2014
Citation:
Ardia, C.A. Xuan Mai. "The Art of Lee Bul: Of Cyborgs, Monsters and Utopian Landscapes." The Culture Trip. The Culture Trip Ltd, n.d. Web. <http://theculturetrip.com/asia/south-korea/articles/the-art-of-lee-bul-of-cyborgs-monsters-and-utopian-landscapes/>.
Battista, Anna. "LEE BUL: FROM ME, BELONGS TO YOU ONLY – Zoot Magazine." LEE BUL: FROM ME, BELONGS TO YOU ONLY – Zoot Magazine. Kwame Corporation, 21 May 2012. Web. <http://www.zootmagazine.com/2012/05/21/lee-bul-from-me-belongs-to-you-only/>.
Hara Museum ARC. A New Permanent Installation by Lee Bul A Fragmentary Anatomy of Every Setting Sun. N.p., 22 Mar. 2010. Web. 11 Nov. 2015. <http://www.haramuseum.or.jp/en/common/pressrelease/pdf/arc/en_arc_pr_LeeBul_100322%20.pdf>.
"Lee Bul's Labyrinth of Infinity Mirrors: Via Negativa II." The Creators Project. N.p., 2014. Web. 11 Nov. 2015. <http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/show/lee-buls-labyrinth-of-infinity-mirrors-via-negativa-ii-video>.
"Majestic Splendor." Mori Art Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2015. <http://www.mori.art.museum/korean/contents/leebul/introduction/03.html>.
Masters, HG. "Wayward Tangents: Lee Bul." ArtAsiaPacific Nov. 2007: n. pag. Print.
Murray, Soraya. "Cybernated Aesthetics: Lee Bul and the Body Transfigured." PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art 30.2 (2008): 38-50. Web.
