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Perdu X

Lee Bul South Korean

Not on view

Lee Bul, a leading contemporary artist, explores issues of gender, oppression, inequity, and technology through her performances, installations, and sculptures. Her recent Perdu series challenges the binary categories of the organic and the artificial through material and form, combining organic mother-of-pearl, lacquer, and wood with synthetic acrylic paint. Lee has said that preparatory drawings for her Cyborg series (1997–2011), which she happened upon many years later, was one of her sources for Perdu, hence the link between the natural, floral-like image in this work to hybrid humanoid forms. Lee is also mindful of Korea’s long lacquer tradition, which is evident in this work’s dark color, layering, and inlaid mother-of-pearl.

Perdu X, Lee Bul (South Korean, born 1964), Mother-of-pearl, acrylic paint on lacquered wood panel, steel frame, Korea

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