Lee Ufan
SMAC Venice, 2026

Lee Ufan is a major solo exhibition presented by the Dia Art Foundation as an official Collateral Event of the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Curated by Jessica Morgan, Dia's Nathalie de Gunzburg Director, in close partnership with the artist, the exhibition opens on 9 May 2026 and runs until 22 November 2026, staged across eight galleries at the Procuratie in Piazza San Marco.

The exhibition brings together approximately twenty works spanning more than seven decades, tracing the evolution of Lee's practice through historical and new paintings, large-scale installations, and a new site-specific commission. Born in Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea in 1936, Lee Ufan is a central figure of both the Japanese Mono-ha (School of Things) movement and the Korean Dansaekhwa (Monochromatic Paintings) tradition. His practice — grounded in a relational philosophy of material, space, and perception — explores the representation of time and interval through minimally gestural marks and the pairing of natural and industrial elements. The Venice presentation celebrates the artist's 90th birthday and runs concurrently with a display of Lee's paintings and sculptures at Dia Beacon in New York.