“Black,” Lee Bae, 2026 (Photo: Sangtae Kim © Museum SAN)
Artist Lee Bae brings more than five decades of artistic practice to Museum SAN in Wonju, South Korea, with En attendant. This large-scale exhibition is devoted to Bae’s sustained exploration of charcoal, transformation, and the cycles of nature.
The exhibition also marks the first solo presentation by a Korean artist since the museum opened. It brings together painting, sculpture, installation, and video across six spaces, extending from the museum’s interior galleries into its surrounding landscape.
The title En attendant, French for “while waiting,” reflects the show’s central meditation on time. Lee has worked with charcoal for more than three decades, beginning after he moved to France in 1989.
His process starts with wood and fire. Trees are burned and transformed into charcoal, a material that carries both the physical trace of destruction and the possibility of renewal. For Lee, this transformation becomes a metaphor for creation, disappearance, and regeneration.
Charcoal dominates the exhibition’s visual language. Its deep blacks appear alongside white surfaces, natural materials, and the muted tones of Museum SAN's architecture. In the Brushstroke series, Lee translates the physical movement of painting into repeated, concentrated gestures. The marks resemble sweeping strokes of calligraphy, yet their apparent simplicity comes from years of disciplined repetition.
Elsewhere, Becoming connects Lee’s artistic practice to his childhood in Cheongdo, South Korea. The installation incorporates soil from his hometown with a large-scale projection of his brushwork, creating an evolving landscape within the museum. As plants grow throughout the exhibition, the work changes over time, emphasizing Lee’s interest in processes that cannot be rushed or entirely controlled.
On view through December 6, 2026, visit Museum SAN to see how Bae turns these transformations into an expansive study of time, material, and renewal.
Lee Bae’s En attendant brings three decades of charcoal-based work to Museum SAN, exploring transformation through fire, material, and time.
“Issu de feu,” Lee Bae, 2003 Charcoal 260 x 170 cm, each 6 panels (Photo: Sangtae Kim © Museum SAN)
“Brushstroke,” Lee Bae, 2026 Charcoal Ink on Paper 227.3 x 181.8 cm each 16 panels (Photo: Sangtae Kim © Museum SAN)
“Brushstroke,” Lee Bae, 2026 Charcoal Ink on Paper 227.3 x 181.8 cm each 16 panels (Photo: Sangtae Kim © Museum SAN)
Across six galleries, paintings and sculptures reveal the artist’s signature charcoal brushstrokes through repetition, movement, and stark contrasts.
“Becoming,” Lee Bae, 2026 video, sound, color 13 min 05sec © Museum SAN
“Issu de feu,” Lee Bae, 2026 Charcoal 800 x 250 x 250 cm (Photo: Sangtae Kim © Museum SAN)
“Brushstroke,” Lee Bae, 2026 Bronze 110 x 40 x 400 cm, each 6 sculptures (Photo: Sangtae Kim © Museum SAN)
On view through December 6, 2026, the exhibition connects destruction and renewal while bringing art, architecture, and nature together.
Lee Bae (Photo: Sangtae Kim)
“White,” Lee Bae, 2026 (Photo: Sangtae Kim © Museum SAN)
Get a peek into the show:
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