Lee Ufan, the South Korean artist and founding member of the Mono-ha movement, is being honored with a major solo exhibition at SMAC San Marco Art Centre as an official Collateral Event of the Venice Biennale, marking his 90th year. Simultaneously, a new display of his painting and sculpture opens at Dia Beacon in New York State, and his first show in Portugal opens at Casa e Parque de Serralves in July. In an interview with The Art Newspaper, Ufan discusses his artistic journey, his rejection of the artist's hand, and the influence of seeing a Barnett Newman exhibition at MoMA in 1971, which led him to develop his signature From Point and From Line paintings that use repeated marks to express the passage of time.
This article matters because it highlights the continued relevance and global recognition of Lee Ufan, a pivotal figure in postwar Asian art whose work bridges Eastern and Western philosophies. The simultaneous exhibitions across Venice, New York, and Portugal underscore his enduring influence on contemporary art and the ongoing interest in Mono-ha's conceptual approach to materials, space, and time. Ufan's reflections on identity, exchange, and the limits of artistic ego offer a timely counterpoint to dominant Western narratives in the art world.