Biography


Lee Wan
B. 1979, Seoul

Lee Wan is known for his diverse body of work, spanning sculpture, installation, documentary film, and AI-infused media technology. He delves into the impacts of globalization, capitalism, politics, history, and culture on individual lives.

Notable accolades include winning the ‘1st Art Spectrum Artist Award’ by Leeum in 2014, and representing the Korean Pavilion at the ‘Venice Biennale’ in 2017. Lee Wan’s collaborative partners include MOYNAT and Hyundai Motor’s ZER01NE and Cradle. His artworks are part of esteemed collections in institutions like MMCA, SeMA, Leeum Samsung Museum of art, and LVMH foundation in Paris.

Presently, he explores humanism from a trans/post-humanism perspective, investigating how AI and technological advancements reshape human existence and relationships.

Artist CV

 
Education
2025~ Yonsei University Graduate School of Communication & Arts, D.F.A., Seoul
2024 Dongguk University, M.F.A. in Media Art, Seoul
2004 Dongguk University, B.F.A. in Sculpture, Seoul
Awards & Honors
2015 The 26th Kim Se-choong Young Sculptor Award, Kim Se-choong Commemoration Foundation
2014 The 1st Art Spectrum Artist Award, Leeum Samsung Museum of Art
2009
-2010
ARKO Young Art Frontier Artist (Selected), Arts Council Korea
2005 JoongAng Fine Arts Competition (Selected Artist), Seoul Arts Center
Collections
LVMH Foundation, Paris
LEEUM Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul
Cheongju Museum of Art, Chungju, Korea
MMCA(National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art), Gwacheon, Korea
SeMA(Seoul Museum of Art), Seoul
National Science Center, Gwacheon, Korea
Ssamzie Theme Park, Heyri, Korea
Solo Exhibitions
2025
2025 바람은 그대 쪽으로, Gi Hyeongdo Literary Museum, Gwangmyeong-si, Korea ︎
2024 랜덤액세스메모리, 챕터3: 기억과 기록 Random Access Memory, Chapter 3: Record & Memory, House of Woonkyung, Seoul ︎
2023 랜덤액세스메모리, 챕터2: 계승자 Random Access Memory, Chapter 2: Heir, ACT Ground, Hwasung-si, Korea ︎
2022 랜덤액세스메모리, 챕터1: Displacement 0 Random Access Memory, Chapter 1: Displacement 0 (Zero), Plad, Gallerie X, Seoul
2019 Lee Wan: Solo Exhibition — 313 Art Project, Art Basel Hong Kong, Hong Kong ︎
2018 A Billboard Project, Chicago EXPO — Solo Exhibition & Special Event, Chicago, USA ︎
2018 Counter Balance, Venice Biennale Korean Pavilion (Homecoming Exhibition), Arts Council Korea (ARKO), Seoul ︎
2017 Counter Balance, Venice Biennale Korean Pavilion, Venice, Italy ︎
2016 무의미한 것에 대한 성실한 태도 A Diligent Attitude towards a Meaningless Thing, 313 art project, Seoul ︎
2016 Discovery Section, Art Basel, Hong Kong ︎
2015 울고 간 새와 울러 올 새의 적막 사이에서 Silence in Between, 313 Art Project, Seoul ︎
2014 Made in, Doosan Art Center, New York ︎
2014 우리에게, 그리고 저들에게 Us and Them, Project Space SARUBIA, Seoul ︎
2013 아아 순정 Oh, Pure Love, Daegu Art Museum, Daegu, Korea ︎
2012 불가능한 것의 가능성 The Possibility of Impossible Things, Gallery Hyundai Window Gallery, Seoul ︎
2012 우리가 되는 방법 How to Become Us, AR Festival, Paju, Korea
2011 우리가 되는 방법 How to Become Us, Art Space Pool, Seoul ︎
2010 쓸쓸한 기준 Forlorn Standard, Art Space Hue, Seoul
2009 삶은 그저 따라 울려 퍼지는 핏빛 물결 Life is widely spreading blood-red ripples, Total Museum, Seoul 
2008 A Forbidden Land, Miro Space, Seoul
2005 Riding Art, Gallery Ssamzie, Seoul ︎
Group Exhibitions
2026 시선의 유통, 대화의 플랫폼 Circulation of Gaze, Platform of Dialogue, MO By CAN, Seoul ︎
2026 몸, 마음 Physical, Mind, 일반지성, Seoul ︎
2025 다시, 집들이 House Warming Again, 경기창작캠퍼스 공공갤러리, Korea ︎
2025 백년과 하루 A Centruy and a Day, 문화역 서울 284, Seoul ︎
2025워싱턴 야자 Washingtonia, 갤러리 레미콘, Jeju, Korea ︎
2025 아시아프 2025 ASYAAF 2025 Welcome to Art Station, 문화역서울284, Seoul ︎
2025 Sol Mur Temps / Intricaiton 2025, Espace ICARE, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France
2025 Shifting Terrains – Beyond Black and White (非非黑即白), Kunstquartier Bethanien, Berlin ︎
2025 The Third, The Third Gallery, Seoul
2025Soul Specter, Lee Wan–Yoo Naul Duo Exhibition, The Square Nonhyeon, Seoul
2025 우리 이토록 작은 존재들 We, Such Fragile Beings, PODO Museum, Jeju, Korea ︎
2025Hello, Family. 가족이 되다, Hello Museum, Seoul
2025 ART OnO, SETEC, Seoul
2024 미완의 어울림, Noksan Industrial Complex, Busan, Korea
2024 인천 아트쇼: 비엔날레 특별전 Incheon Art Show: Biennale Special Exhibition, Songdo Convensia, Incheon, Korea
2024 Super Collectors, Hyundai Art Stage, Hyundai Trade Center, Seoul
2024 Transistors, Han Pao-Teh Memorial Museum, Tainan, Taiwan
2024모든 섬은 산이다 Every Island Is a Mountain, Venice Biennale Korean Pavilion 30th Anniversary Exhibition, Palazzo Malta, Venice ︎
2023시그널: 흔적과 징후들 SIGNAL: Traces and Symptoms, Incheon Art Platform, Incheon, Korea
2023The Irreplaceable Human, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark ︎
2023 On Boarding, Sungkok Art Museum, Seoul
2022 채널: 입자가 파동이 되는 순간 Channel: Wave–Particle Duality, Changwon Sculpture Biennale, Changwon, Korea ︎
2022 기록도시 Record City, Factory 2, Seoul
2021Not Easy, 313 Art Project, Seoul
2021 잃어버린 시간의 연대기 The Chronicle of Lost Time, SNU Museum of Art (MoA), Seoul ︎
2021 시간여행사 타임워커 Time Walker: The Time Travel Corporation, MOCA Busan, Busan, Korea ︎
2020 Camp 2020, Camp Long, Wonju, Korea
2020 Collection, Space CAN Old House, Seoul
2019 Contemporary Korean Art, Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul
2019 What Is Contemporary Art, Daegu Art Factory, Daegu, Korea
2019Sugar Industry, Madou Triennial, Madou, Taiwan
2018 버리지 못하는 것들에 대하여 About the Things You Can’t Throw Away, SNU Museum of Art (SNUMoA), Seoul ︎
2018아직 살아 있다 Still Alive, Cheongju Museum of Art, Cheongju, Korea ︎
2018 악의 사전 The Dictionary of Evil, Gangwon International Biennale, Gangwon, Korea
2017 Continua Sphères ENSEMBLE, Centquatre-Paris, Paris
2017Nomadic Traveler, 5th Cultural Conversations: Korea–Indonesia, Edwin’s Gallery, Jakarta, Indonesia
2017Video Portrait, Total Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul
2017 Lesson Zero, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), Gwacheon, Korea
2016First Sight in Jogja, Cemeti Art House, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
2016 Nanjing Art Festival, Nanjing Baijia Lake Museum, Nanjing
2016지속가능을 묻는다 Questioning Sustainability, SNU Museum of Art (SNUMoA), Seoul ︎
2016Art and the Measure of Liberty: The United Nations Turns 70, Baik Art, Los Angeles
2015Art and the Measure of Liberty: The United Nations Turns 70, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations, New York ︎
2015 Jungle Shoes Report, Blockhaus, France
2015광주미디어아트페스티벌: 빛의 대화 Gwangju Media Art Festival: The Dialogue of Light, Bitgoeul Citizen Cultural Center, Gwangju, Korea
2015 New Conjunctions, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations, New York
2015Sphères 8, Galleria Continua, Les Moulins, France
2015 Accidental Encounter, SeMA (Seoul Museum of Art), Seoul
2015Useless, Useful, Osan Museum of Art, Osan, Korea
2015 SEMA Salon, SeMA (Seoul Museum of Art), Seoul
2014 터전을 불태우라 Burning Down the House, Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, Korea ︎
2014 응답하라, 작가들 Please Respond, Artists, Space O’New Wall, Seoul
2014 Super Romantics, Daegu Art Factory, Daegu, Korea
2014 Prime and Surplus, Common Center, Seoul
2014 Lee Wan – Park Kiwon Duo Exhibition, 313 Art Project, Seoul
2014 Sphères 7, Galleria Continua, Les Moulins, France
2014Deliberate Tension, Cumin Art Center, Chungju, Korea
2014 Art Spectrum, Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul ︎
2014New Icon, Salihara Gallery, Jakarta, Indonesia
2014 Boundaries and Transcendence, Pohang Museum of Art, Pohang, Korea
2013Twilight, Absolute Space, Tainan, Taiwan
2013Love Impossible, SNU Museum of Art (SNUMoA), Seoul
2013 Art Farm Project, Jim Thompson Art Center, Bangkok
2013Turning the State Upside-Down, Arts Council Korea, Insa Art Space, Seoul
2013Tireless Refrain, Nam June Paik Art Center, Yongin, Korea
2012Play Time, Culture Station Seoul 284, Seoul
2012 Taste of Life, Sungkok Art Museum, Seoul
2012 Confession, Ilmin Museum of Art, Seoul
2012 The Pulse, Doosan Art Center, New York
2012 The Pulse, Doosan Art Center, Seoul
2011Korea Tomorrow, Seoul Arts Center, Seoul
2010 Biennale+1, Gwangju Biennale Special Exhibition, Gwangju, Korea
2010 Asian Emerging Artist, Kim Daejung Convention Center, Gwangju, Korea
2010유원지에서 생긴 일 The Last Amusement Park, Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art (GMoMA), Gyeonggi-do, Korea ︎
2010 달토끼, 어린이미술관에서 놀다 Moon Rabbit Plays in the Children’s Gallery, MMCA Children’s Museum, Gwacheon, Korea ︎
2010Mega Stuff, Salon de H, Seoul
2010 Art & Science, National Science Center, Gwacheon, Korea
201030th Anniversary of Young Korean Artists, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), Gwacheon, Korea
2009Visible Hands, Ilmin Museum of Art, Seoul
2009 Dissonant Visions, SeMA (Seoul Museum of Art), Seoul ︎
2008Art at Home, Wonderful Life, Doosan Art Center, Seoul
2008 Dialog in Between, SNU Museum of Art (SNUMoA), Seoul
2008 Young Korean Artists, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), Gwacheon, Korea
2007London Okryukwan, Art House Gallery, London
2006 Living Furniture, Busan Biennale, Busan, Korea
2005JoongAng Fine Arts Competition, Seoul Arts Center, Seoul
Residencies
2019 Gallery PURPLE, Namyangju, Korea
2018Tsung-Yeh Arts and Culture Center, Madou, Taiwan
2016 Cemeti Art House, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
2015 Asia Culture Center Residency, Gwangju, Korea
2014 Doosan Art Center Residency, New York
2014 New Zero Art Space, Yangon, Myanmar
2014 Geumcheon Art Factory, Seoul
2013Absolute Space Residency, Tainan, Taiwan
2013 Jim Thompson Art Center Residency, Bangkok
2012 Space CAN Residency, Seoul
2011SOLOMON Artist Residency, Seoul