By Choi Jin-woo

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, aka the Met, will feature the works of a contemporary Korean artist on the facade of its building.

The Met on Nov. 29 said this in a news conference to announce its business plan for next year and the Facade Commission, a project to install the works of Lee Bul on the museum's exterior.

Since 2019, the museum has displayed the works of globally famous contemporary artists on its facade every year. Lee is the first Korean to receive the honor.

For Lee's art, the Met said it will show her works combining figurative and abstract elements from September next year through May 2025.

"Since her breakthrough performance in the late 1980s in Seoul and Tokyo wearing sewn sculptural forms, Lee has been heralded as a pioneer in contemporary sculpture and installation," the Met said about the artist in a news release. "Structurally and visually complex, Lee’s work also explores the aspirations and failures of utopian visions and exposes a sense of vulnerability and melancholy in history."

"She is known for her sophisticated use of both highly industrial and labor-intensive materials, such as fabric, metal, plastic, silicone, porcelain, and glass, incorporating artisanal practices as well as technological advancements into her work."

Lee emerged on the international stage as a finalist for the Hugo Boss Prize at the Guggenheim Museum in New York after holding in 1997 a solo exhibition at the Big Apple's Museum of Modern Art. In 1999, she simultaneously participated in the main exhibition and Korea Pavilion of the Venice Biennale and received a special citation at the event's International Exhibition of Contemporary Art.

Lee is scheduled to display four sculptures combining figurative and abstract elements for the Facade Commission. This project, the fifth in a series, presents works on the facade of its building and will also feature Petrit Halilaj from Kosovo and Tong Yang-Tze from China as well as Lee.

As the largest art museum in the U.S., the Met attracts approximately seven million visitors per year from all over the world.

paramt@korea.kr