Taishin Bank Foundation for Arts and Culture

Jury’s Comments for the Annual Shortlist Award

Born in Taiwan and active in the international art scene, LEE Mingwei creates works that embody both Western relational aesthetics and characteristics of Eastern thinking. By delving into individual life and experience, his art also expands into care for the society.

With its rich content, the exhibition displayed artworks of “relational aesthetics” and versatile techniques of related artistic concepts. From the public, open space to an enclosed, private sphere, the exhibition offered the audience various ways of viewing art and interacting with it, enabling their “participation” in the display of the artworks while establishing an ideal ambience for communicating with them. Some of the artworks also incorporated the form and essence of performing arts and performance art, increasing the charisma of the exhibition as it introduced the artistic content in a comprehensible way and conveyed a lasting charm through unifying different disciplines. 

Comments on the Finalist

With its rich content, the exhibition displayed artworks of “relational aesthetics” and versatile techniques of related artistic concepts. It was powerful as it was profound. From the public open space to the enclosed private sphere, it offered the audience various ways of viewing art and interaction, enabling their “participation” in the display of the artworks while establishing an ideal ambience for communicating with them. Some of the artworks also incorporated the form and essence of performing arts and performance art, increasing the charisma of the exhibition as it introduced the artistic content in a comprehensible way and conveyed a lasting charm through unifying different disciplines. (Commentator: YANG Mei-Ying)

Artwork Introduction

“Lee Mingwei and His Relations: The Art of Participation” is a joint exhibition between Taipei Fine Arts Museum and Mori Art Museum in bringing the survey exhibition “Lee Mingwei and His Relations” from Mori Art Museum to Taiwan. This exhibition features 15 major projects from Lee Mingwei since 1995, including a new site-specific work Our Labyrinth created for Taipei Fine Arts Museum. This is an opportunity for the public to experience the work of Taiwanese-American performance and conceptual artist Lee Mingwei as well as participate in interactive projects.

About the Artist

Born in Taiwan in 1964 and currently living in Paris and New York City, Lee Mingwei creates participatory installations, where strangers can explore issues of trust, intimacy, and self-awareness, and one-on-one events, where visitors contemplate these issues with the artist through eating, sleeping, walking and conversation. Lee’s projects are often open-ended scenarios for everyday interaction, and take on different forms with the involvement of participants and change during the course of an exhibition.

Lee received an MFA from Yale University in 1997, and has held solo exhibitions internationally including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, Mori Art Museum, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art and has been featured in biennials in Venice, Lyon, Liverpool, Taipei, Sydney, Whitney, and Asia Pacific Triennials.