[Gallery Walk] The Artist of Charcoal Returns to Soil This Time

Lee Bae Solo Exhibition "En attendant" at Museum SAN

Labor and Cycles of Origin Over the Sublimity of Charcoal

Returning to Memories of Labor Beneath the Abstraction of Spirituality

This time, the artist known for charcoal has brought out soil before charcoal. Lee Bae's solo exhibition "En attendant" at Museum SAN in Wonju may appear to be a grand display of black, but in fact, it is more about tracing the origin of that blackness.

At the main entrance of Museum SAN in Wonju, Gangwon Province, is displayed the contemporary art piece "Issu du feu" by artist Lee Bae. This large-scale work measures 8 meters in height, 5 meters in width, and weighs 7 tons. It is inspired by the traditional "Daljiptaewigi" event, where straw is piled and set on fire during the first full moon of the lunar year, symbolizing a pillar embodying wishes. Museum SAN

It was charcoal that established Lee Bae's reputation in the global art world. However, this exhibition first asks where that charcoal came from, what was burned, and what it passed through to arrive here. While it takes the form of a retrospective, its gaze is directed backward. Rather than focusing on the height of the finished sculpture, it brings forth the earth and bodily memories that support it.

The space that most clearly cements this interpretation is "Becoming" in Cheongjo Gallery 3. The floor is covered with soil brought from Cheongdo, and on a 9-meter screen, the artist’s body is projected as he paints directly on a rice field. During the exhibition, plants sprout and wither. Here, Lee Bae’s work no longer relies solely on the sublimity of charcoal as a material.

As barefoot actions, the repetitive pushing of soil, and the passage of time through growth are all brought together in a single scene, his black is revealed to be labor before it is abstraction, and a memory of livelihood before it is spirituality. This is what makes the exhibition feel new: instead of showing only the result of charcoal, it brings the life before it became charcoal into the exhibition space.

On the 6th, Bae Lee (70) is seen performing a dirt-sweeping act with a broom at Museum SAN. He said this performance is no different from painting with a large brush on paper. Museum SAN

Recalling Lee Bae’s recent trajectory makes this shift even clearer. In 2023, "Issu du feu" at Rockefeller Center erected a vertical monument of charcoal in the heart of the city. In 2024, "La Maison de la Lune Brûlée" in Venice foregrounded the ritual of Daljiptaewigi and the symbolism of charcoal. In Berlin in 2025, "Syzygy" filled the entire space with the language of charcoal through "Issu du feu" and "Brushstrokes."

Following this flow, Lee Bae seems to be moving toward ever grander, more monumental, and more complete forms. But this SAN exhibition takes a step aside from that path. Instead of adding height, it digs into the ground once more. It asks not about the pinnacle of the monument, but about the origins that gave rise to it.

This is why the most impressive aspect of the exhibition is not the 8-meter-tall "Issu du feu" itself, although the work remains overwhelming. The series "Brushstrokes," standing 10 meters high in the outdoor "Space of Emptiness," also creates a spectacular scene as it climbs the terrain and architecture of Museum SAN. Yet this time, even these monumental works appear less as climaxes and more as testimonies—testimonies that speak in reverse about what existed before reaching such heights.

'Brushstroke' installed in the lobby of Cheongjo Gallery during Lee Bae's solo exhibition. MuseumSAN

Lee Bae himself described this exhibition as "a time focused on revisiting the origin," which is in the same context. He said that through this exhibition, he revisited who he is, the environment in which he grew up, and the dreams that brought him here. The reason these words sound more convincing in a room covered with soil than in front of a towering charcoal pillar is clear.

Museum SAN itself functions differently this time. This museum typically presents exhibitions in an orderly way. Tadao Ando’s concrete, natural light, silence, and the mountains of Wonju tend to swiftly translate most works into the language of meditation and healing. Yet this exhibition does not simply follow that translation. The moment soil is brought in, the body passes, and memories of farming and labor enter, the tranquility of SAN becomes a little rougher.

This roughness is welcome. It breaks the safe interpretations that have led viewers to read Lee Bae's work only as sublime black. The comfortable title of "the artist of charcoal" finally wavers here. This time, he has not brought out charcoal itself, but the time before it became charcoal.

'Brushstroke' installed in 'Space of Emptiness,' part of Lee Bae's solo exhibition held at Museum SAN. It is a bronze structure that mimics Lee Bae's unique charcoal texture, harmonizing with the nature surrounding Museum SAN. Museum SAN

Ultimately, the achievement of "En attendant" does not lie in beautifully packaging waiting. Rather, this exhibition returns waiting to the work of the body. Here, waiting is not a meditation stopped in place, but a process of burning, remaining, regrowing, sweeping, and enduring. Lee Bae has long been an artist who speaks in black. But what lingers more after this exhibition is not the black itself, but the soil beneath it.

By making us see that soil anew, this exhibition is both a retrospective summarizing Lee Bae’s 30 years and an exhibition that prompts him to begin again. This time, what the artist of charcoal presents to us is not the completion of charcoal, but its origin. The exhibition runs until December 6.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.