{"id":756936,"date":"2026-06-02T13:26:03","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T11:26:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/numero.com\/?p=756936"},"modified":"2026-06-02T13:26:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T11:26:07","slug":"interview-with-lee-ufan-the-living-legend-of-contemporary-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/numero.com\/en\/art-design\/numero-art-en\/interview-with-lee-ufan-the-living-legend-of-contemporary-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Lee Ufan, the living legend of contemporary art"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Lee Ufan photographed by Paolo Roversi for
Num\u00e9ro art.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Num\u00e9ro art 17 is available at newsstands and on iPad since October 18th<\/em>, 2025.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lee Ufan: A major figure in contemporary art<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lee Ufan<\/strong> was born in 1936 in Korea, but it was in Japan, where he moved in 1956 to study philosophy, that he rose to prominence as an artist, becoming a central figure in the Mono-ha<\/strong> (“School of Things”) movement. From the outset, Ufan viewed painting<\/strong> and sculpture<\/strong> as complementary practices. In the 1970s, his paintings explored the flow of time, repetition, and difference, in pursuit of infinity \u2013 in his practice, painting becomes an act of \u201cconcentration, breathing deeply and steadily to allow the organic forces of thought, hand, brush, colour, canvas, air, and time to come together<\/em>.\u201d<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Ufan\u2019s work is above all an experience of space and tension revealed, between inside and out<\/em>.” – Lee Ufan<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The canvases in his series From Point<\/em> and From Line<\/em>, for example, deploy rhythmic gestures, like breathing. In the 1980s, with his series From Winds and With Winds<\/em>, Lee Ufan<\/strong>\u00a0gave yet more space to the uncontrolled, while in the 2000s his Correspondence and Dialogue<\/em> series radically reduced and concentrated the visible traces of his hand, the brushstrokes establishing a tension between themselves, with sometimes just one that entered into dialogue with the blank surface of the canvas. In his Relatum<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 the Latin for \u201crelation\u201d \u2013 series of sculptures, this interplay between space and related elements is yet further highlighted. Indeed, Lee Ufan’s work is above all an experience of space and tension revealed, between inside and out.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With Winds<\/em> (1990), Lee Ufan. Oil and mineral pigments on canvas, 291 x 218 cm. The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Interview with artist Lee Ufan for Num\u00e9ro art<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Num\u00e9ro art: <\/strong>Your work can be found in many museums, in <\/strong>the Pinault Collection\u2019s current hang, as well as <\/strong>at art fairs. But your museum on the island of <\/strong>Naoshima in Japan is perhaps the place where <\/strong>your work can best be understood. What does <\/strong>Naoshima represent for you?\r\n<\/strong>Lee Ufan: <\/strong>Naoshima is first and foremost the project of a great Japanese art collector, Soichiro Fukutake, who, in the late 1980s, had the visionary idea of transforming the abandoned land he had inherited on the island into a place dedicated entirely to art. He turned to Japanese architect Tadao Ando<\/strong> to build a complex of museums and hotels. The island was completely revitalized, and people from all over the world now go to see it. It\u2019s a rather mysterious phenomenon. Art there is in direct dialogue with nature. You really have to take your time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Human beings are animated by life, by the vital force of the living. This connects us to the cosmos at a far greater scale<\/em>.” – Lee Ufan<\/h3><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On Naoshima, contemporary art is an experience, an encounter with something unknown. Ando was pivotal in that. He\u2019s often reduced to his use of concrete, without seeing what he actually does with it. When building a concrete wall in a space, he seeks neither to freeze nor to enclose it. Rather, he creates tension in the space, making it somehow move. Which means that an empty space no one had noticed before suddenly becomes visible. Naturally it was with him that I created my museum in Naoshima.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Relatum (formerly Phenomena and Perception B)<\/em> [1968\u201369]. Steel, glass, and stone. Stone approximately 40 cm high. Private collection. View of the installation Outside Lee Ufan\u2019s studio<\/em>, Kamakura, Japan (1982).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Could this way of engaging with space also apply to your own work? I\u2019m thinking of the idea of tension created in a space \u2013 a canvas, a gallery \u2013 or the creation of tension between different objects, whether natural or industrial. \n<\/strong>You\u2019ve understood our approach perfectly. That\u2019s why, for me, the museum in Naoshima<\/strong> couldn\u2019t be just another museum. I wanted to create a space that, like a cave, had existed since the dawn of time. You enter it like entering a mother\u2019s womb. It\u2019s a space that invites meditation. But I believe your question also alludes to the nature of my work. The way I make art never involves sitting cogitating at a desk. I always start from the space, seeking a dialogue. I don\u2019t start from an object, nor is my goal to create one. Instead, I aim to bring forth a space and make it more conducive to dialogue. In Naoshima, this space evokes a cave. It invites a dialogue with oneself and with the universe. You enter it as if in resonance.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"lee\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
Lee Ufan photographed by Paolo Roversi for
Num\u00e9ro art<\/em>. Set designer: Jean-Hugues de Chatillon. Photographer\u2019s assistant: Clara Belleville at We Are The Agent. Production: Studio Demi.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Is there a place for beauty in your work? Does the concept interest you at all?<\/strong> \nI studied philosophy in my youth, and read many books on aesthetics, so beauty is something I generally keep in mind. In contemporary art, the concept has been more or less rejected, particularly the Romantic ideal of beauty, which centred almost exclusively on the human being seen through the human gaze. Barnett Newman<\/strong>, for instance, preferred the term sublime [The Sublime is Now<\/em>, 1948]. He sought to capture the sublime on canvas, to prove its existence. The idea is interesting, but I don\u2019t share his approach. Moreover, the sublime is a part of beauty. In truth, I can neither categorically deny the notion of beauty nor assert its importance. Beauty has been part of our daily lives since time immemorial.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The way I make art never involves sitting cogitating at a desk. I always start from the space, seeking a dialogue<\/em>.” – Lee Ufan<\/h3><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We want to be beautiful, we take pride in how we look. The sense of beauty is inseparable from being human. But if we go back to primitive times, the experience of beauty was tied to nature in all its vastness. Today, however, the rise of artificial intelligence and digital data reduces the possibility of such experiences. Human beings are animated by life, by the vital force of the living. This connects us to the cosmos at a far greater scale. In this context, humanity is a mere grain of sand. We cannot be at the centre. Such questions cannot be dismissed, and we should continue to ponder beauty not as an answer, but as an ongoing enquiry, a perpetual quest. That\u2019s my conviction.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"lee\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
From Point<\/em> (1977), Lee Ufan. Oil and mineral pigment on canvas, 182 \u00d7 227 cm. The National Museum of Art, Tokyo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You seem very critical of modernity\u2019s tendency to place humankind at the centre of the world.<\/strong> \nModernity can be interpreted in different ways. But adhering to it as an object constructed around our ego, the human ego, has, I believe, prevented us from understanding the essential relationship between inside and out. By focusing on the human ego, we no longer saw what surrounded us. But I think this approach was reduced to nothing after World War II. It\u2019s essential to create a dialogue between what\u2019s known and unknown.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We should continue to ponder beauty not as an answer, but as an ongoing enquiry, a perpetual quest. That\u2019s my conviction.<\/em>” – Lee Ufan<\/h3><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The incomprehensible nature of things is essential. That\u2019s why I told you I don\u2019t create my works sitting at a desk. A work of art cannot be a pure inner reflection of my mind. Art is made in a specific place, in dialogue with the exterior. It weaves things and spaces together with connections and associations. My body also plays a role in bringing things into being. I am present in the space when I create, which allows me to welcome everything that\u2019s there, and to create dialogues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"lee\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
View of the Lee Ufan Museum in Naoshima, Japan.
Relatum – Shadow of Stone<\/em> (2010). Photo: Tadasu Yamamoto.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How, for example, did your Relatum series come to be? \n<\/strong>Naturally, I search for stones in quarries. But I\u2019m not looking for beautiful stones. Some may inspire me, it\u2019s true, they say something to me. But that\u2019s quite rare. What\u2019s important is space. I choose each stone in relation to the space. A stone of a certain size will be paired with a metal plate of a certain size. This dialogue between industrial society and nature creates a resonance. That relationship is essential because it\u2019s what allows us to feel something stronger, something that was hitherto incomprehensible. And this only makes sense in a specific place.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"lee\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
View of the Lee Ufan Museum in Naoshima, Japan.
Relatum – Silence<\/em> (2010). Photo: Tadasu Yamamoto.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“I always feel a mysterious force emanating from these stones. An absolute presence.<\/em>”\u00a0\u2013 Lee Ufan<\/h3><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been using stone in my work since the second half of the 1960s. My viewpoint has evolved, and yet something remains unchanged. Like when I visit Brittany or England and come across dolmens or menhirs \u2013 I always feel a mysterious force emanating from these stones. An absolute presence. It\u2019s not just a block of stone \u2013 it\u2019s something sublime, something beyond comprehension. These stones existed long before humanity. They are a fundamental, primordial material that humans have always needed to use, especially in art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"lee\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>
From Point<\/em> (1975). Glue and mineral pigment on canvas. Three panels, 194 x 291 cm (overall dimensions). The National Museum of Art, Osaka. Photo: Nic Tenwiggenhorn, Du\u0308sseldorf\/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And how do you make your paintings?<\/strong> \nWhen I paint, sometimes I position my canvases on the wall, at others on the floor. They become a screen, a predetermined space. Something happens when I stand before the canvas and exert my full physical strength. Each of my gestures \u2013 a dot or a line made with the brush \u2013 is an opportunity to create a new vibration, new sensations.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Num\u00e9ro art 17 is available at newsstands and on iPad since October 18th, 2025. Lee Ufan: […]<\/p>\n

Read More… from Interview with Lee Ufan, the living legend of contemporary art<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":743172,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[78,76,3182],"tags":[10002,10001],"class_list":["post-756936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-en","category-art-design","category-numero-art-en","tag-lee-ufan-en","tag-paolo-roversi-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nInterview with Lee Ufan, a key figure in contemporary art<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Since the 1960s, Korean artist Lee Ufan has established himself as a central figure with his minimalist work and philosophy. 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