Lee Ufan: Quiet Resonance

It has been nearly 50 years since Lee Ufan last exhibited at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, at the 1976 Biennale of Sydney. He now returns to the gallery for his first ever solo show in Australia (31 August–September 2025). For more than six decades, the artist has been creating pared-back, contemplative sculptural pieces that incorporate stone and industrial materials such as steel and glass, as well as minimalistic paintings and prints. Many of these works are grounded in the artist’s engagement with the philosophical principles of Zen Buddhism and Confucianism, alongside various strands of Western philosophy, which he also explores through his poetry and essays. Lee has created several new works especially for this show, which totals five installations, six paintings and two prints. It also includes recent reiterations of previous works, such as a 2023 version of his sculpture Relatum (1968), which consists of a boulder resting in the centre of a pane of cracked glass.

Find out more from the Art Gallery of New South Wales’s website.

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Relatum (1968/2023), Lee Ufan. © the artist

Installation view of Relatum – ring and stone (2019) by Lee Ufan at Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C. Photo: Cathy Carver; © the artist

Relatum – the position (1990/2023), Lee Ufan. © the artist