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From Line

LEE Ufan

1973

Lee U-fan came to Japan in 1956. While studying philosophy in the literature department of Nihon University, he also studied Japanese-style painting. His work was unique for the time since it was neither traditional Japanese-style painting nor avant-garde.
At the late 1960s some artists started to make art with natural materials like stones, wood, and earth or industrial materials like steel plates, glass, and paper, leaving the materials unchanged. He wrote and provided theoretical support for this artistic movement known as the Mono-ha (School of Things). His theories were critical of Western thinking based on the central position of human beings in the world and an opposition between human beings and the world. He undertook the mission of making art that goes beyond the ordinary boundaries of art, accepting and revealing the conditions of the world just as they are.
Lee's work was not created from nothing. It was made of already existing stones and steel plates. It explored the relationship between these things, between the things and the place, and between the things and the viewer. In painting, Lee saw the canvas as field. He started by making clear brushworks that leave traces of physicality (gesture) in "From Point" and "From Line", culminating in the "Correspondences", which make effective use of resonant empty space.
Lee's ideas were based on Western philosophy but also influenced by the Japanese philosopher,NISHIDA Kitaro, and the cultural situation of Japan.

Profile

LEE Ufan
1936-

Infomation

Genre	Paintings
Material/technique	Mineral pigment on canvas
Dimensions	127×182cm
Acquisition date	1979
Accession number	1975-00-0557-000
Name of Donor etc.	Gift of the Artist