SEOUL/LONDON, February 14, 2024 – Hyundai Motor Company and Tate Modern announced today that Mire Lee will create the next annual Hyundai Commission. Lee is known for her visceral sculptures that use kinetic, mechanized elements to invoke the tension between soft forms and rigid systems.
Opening to the public from October 8, 2024, to March 16, 2025, Hyundai Commission: Mire Lee will be the ninth in an annual series of site-specific works created for Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall by renowned international artists. This will be the first major presentation of Lee’s work in the UK.
Hyundai Motor’s ongoing partnership with Tate, which includes the annual Hyundai Commission, is confirmed until 2026 and is the longest initial commitment from a corporate partner in Tate’s history. This partnership is founded around the shared commitment to offering new ways to access, understand and experience art.
Born in South Korea in 1988, Lee lives and works between Amsterdam and Seoul. Using industrial materials, such as steel rods, cement, silicone, oil and clay, her work explores the animated nature of these materials as they pour, drip and bulge. Lee’s sculptures have a raw, organic appearance with elements suggestive of living organisms combined with machine parts. Motors or pumps channel oozing liquids through them with an unsettling effect. Lee is interested in the power of sculpture to affect both the viewer and the immediate surroundings and is unafraid to push artistic boundaries in spectacular ways. Her atmospheric sculptures and installations engage the senses and create spaces to reflect on themes of emotion and human desire.
Mire Lee's sculptures offer a sensorial encounter, exploring the relationship between organic forms and mechanical elements. We anticipate delving into Lee's unique perspective in her upcoming work for the Hyundai Commission, fostering a profound understanding of interconnectedness.
Mire Lee is one of today’s most intriguing and original contemporary artists and we are delighted she will be creating her first work in the UK here at Tate Modern. Lee produces powerful sculptures, and we look forward to seeing how she transforms the iconic Turbine Hall with her subversive, multi-sensory forms.
Lee’s recent solo exhibitions include Black Sun (2023) at the New Museum, New York; Look, I’m a fountain of filth raving mad with love (2022) at ZOLLAMTMMK, MMK Frankfurt; HR Giger & Mire Lee (2022) at Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin; and Carriers (2020) at Art Sonje Center, Seoul. Her work was also featured in several group exhibitions including presentations at the 59th Biennale di Venezia, Venice (2022); 11th Busan Biennale, Busan (2022); Kunstverein Freiburg, Freiburg (2021); Antenna Space, Shanghai (2020); the 15th Biennale de Lyon, Lyon (2019); Art Sonje, Seoul (2019); Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah (2019); and the 12th Gwangju Biennale Pavilion Project, Gwangju (2018). She has taken part in residencies at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam (2018) and Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA Nanji Residency), Seoul (2017); and received a Special Prize at the 2021 Future Generation Art Prize.
Since Tate Modern opened in 2000, the Turbine Hall has hosted some of the world’s most memorable and acclaimed works of contemporary art, reaching an audience of millions each year. The way artists have interpreted this vast industrial space has revolutionized public perceptions of contemporary art in the 21st century. The annual Hyundai Commission offers artists an opportunity to create new work for this unique context.
In addition to the annual Hyundai Commission, the Hyundai Tate Research Centre: Transnational, launched in 2019, continues to challenge dominant art histories and highlight global exchanges of artists and ideas. Through its long-standing partnerships, Hyundai Motor aims to spark meaningful dialogue, cultivate empathy, facilitate collaborations and engage the entire art ecosystem.
Hyundai Commission: Mire Lee is curated by Ann Coxon, Curator, International Art, Tate Modern; Alvin Li, Curator, International Art, supported by Asymmetry Art Foundation, Tate Modern; and Bilal Akkouche, Assistant Curator, Tate Modern. It will be accompanied by a new book from Tate Publishing.
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