Lee Bul's sci- fi imagination illuminates the Hayward Gallery in London
“Everything starts out as utopian, it is only with the passage of time and reflection that it becomes dystopian”
Pills
June 17th, 2018
June 17th, 2018
If you are in London, among the exhibitions to visit, there is certainly the one on Lee Bul that offers the Hayward Gallery until August 19, 2018.
The art space located inside the Southbank Center, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of its foundation, presents to the public a spectacular retrospective that brings together 118 works, made from the 80s to today, including 16 new pieces never before seen (for example the covering of the external walls of the gallery with over 50 thousand Swarovski crystals).
Born in Korea in 1964, Bul is considered one of the most important contemporary artists of her generation.
Over the last 30 years, she has been dealing with issues such as patriarchy, feminism and the stereotypes that permeate society, of technologies and scientific progress, but also of more intimate and private aspects of people's lives such as gender, sexuality and relationship with others.
The sources inspired by it include science fiction, history of the 20th century, philosophy, bioengineering, futurism, Japanese anime and manga and personal experience, input that she reworks in a unique way making use of deliberately "contrasting" materials ranging from the organic to the industrial, from silk and mother-of-pearl, to glass fiber or silicone.
Among the most interesting works to see, in addition to Willing To Be Vulnerable - Metalized Balloon, a 17 meter long Zeppelin balloon inspired by the Hindenburg disaster of 1937, there is "Majestic Slender", a suggestive installation that includes rotting fish, embroidered and embellished with sequins, beads and flowers, an attempt to question the value of beauty.
Or there's Live Forever III, a karaoke pod that offers a space (to sing nostalgic hits and, thanks to the generous reverberation, gives everyone the chance to have a beautiful voice, alluding to the idea of a mutant narrative and search for perfection.
There is no lack of sculptures, partially dismembered robotic women; pieces in wearable fabric that resemble an octopus; futuristic installations, from a set of fragments of mirrors, domestic light bulbs to a shimmering black creature that looks like a monster coming from the Upside Down of Stranger Things.
"The show is designed to transport the visitors to another reality, place and time" - said Stephanie Rosenthal, the exhibition curator - "I am particularly interested in the way Lee Bul’s work addresses both the aspirations of democracy and its potential failure and I think approaching these topics is more relevant than ever today."
