Lee Ufan, Relatum – Primitive Room, 2026, slate
Photo David Giancatarina
South Korean artist Lee Ufan has spent more than six decades proving that the most powerful works of art are often the quietest. A pioneering figure of the Mono-ha movement and one of the most influential artists of his generation, he has built an extraordinary practice that dissolves the boundaries between painting, sculpture, philosophy and architecture, replacing spectacle with contemplation and objects with relationships. His works do not simply occupy space—they recalibrate it, heightening our awareness of light, time, material and the invisible forces that bind them together.
That vision reaches a remarkable new climax in “Relatum: Lee Ufan” at the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Palais des Papes in Avignon in southern France, on view through November 15, 2026, where the 90-year-old artist has conceived one of the most ambitious projects of his career. Rather than treating the medieval palace that was a papal residence in the 14th century as a backdrop, Lee has entered into a profound dialog with its 700-year history through a monumental 60-ton slate installation in the Grand Chapel, three never-before-seen site-specific installations and five paintings from his celebrated “Response” series. Stones, steel and canvas become quiet interlocutors with Gothic architecture, inviting visitors to slow down and experience the monument as a living presence rather than a historic relic.
Presented at the same time as his acclaimed exhibition at San Marco Art Center, an official collateral event of the 61st Venice Biennale, the Avignon project reaffirms Lee’s singular ability to transform some of the world’s most storied sites into places of renewed perception. I sit down with the artist to discuss creating art as an act of dialog, responding to history without imposing upon it, and why, in an age increasingly defined by artificial intelligence, excess and distraction, he’s busy creating relationships between objects, humanity and nature.
Lee Ufan, Relatum – Beyond, 2026, stainless steel
Photo David Giancatarina
When you were invited to inhabit parts of the Palais des Papes, how did you adapt to the site?
I have exhibited in many different historical sites, including at the Chateau de Versailles. My approach is always to accept what the place offers me. Through dialog, I ask what I can contribute to its spirit. I walk, I sit, I reflect, allowing my imagination to move freely. It is never simply about applying my own grammar. Rather, I ask myself: “What kind of dialog can I create here?” Although my time on site is short, I develop several ideas before choosing the best one. Before coming here, my thoughts were preoccupied by artificial intelligence, contemporary civilization and war. Everything seemed confused and difficult to resolve. Then I was invited to exhibit here, in a place where very long time still exists. I realized this would allow me to stop, to think differently. Against AI, totalitarianism and the pressures of contemporary civilization, perhaps this exhibition could offer a small form of resistance. That became my motivation.
Tell me about the monumental installation “Relatum—Primitive Room” located in the Grand Chapel.
If someone were standing here in the chapel, they might wonder, “Perhaps these stones have always been here” or “Perhaps this stone once had a connection to a pope.” A stone possesses an enduring evocative and mysterious power. The work is a stone chamber within a stone chamber. Countless people have come here and departed over the centuries, and undoubtedly countless souls have crossed paths here. My first intention was to bring peace to those souls. My second intention concerns the place itself. This site has existed for more than 700 years and is a sacred place. Yet beyond those 700 years of history, there is something far older, more primitive, more original that still exists here. Through this wild, primordial aspect, I wanted to reveal the origin of everything—the origin of humanity and the relationship between humanity and nature.
You let us walk on the slate installation, which is quite unusual in an exhibition. Was that a deliberate way of connecting the work to humanity by allowing the public to appropriate it physically?
Many of my works invite people to touch them or walk on them, so this is not exceptional in my practice. What is exceptional here is the setting. My works are never created elsewhere and simply transported to a space. I always install them through a dialog with the site itself. My only wish is that visitors will also participate in that dialog.
How did you choose the “Response” paintings for the Grand Tinel room?
Initially, I had no intention of exhibiting paintings here. During the preparation, however, it was suggested that something should be installed in this space, which led me to select these works. They are highly representative of my practice. My work always suggests both what has been done and what has not been done. These two aspects remain in constant dialog: emptiness and fullness. Through a small number of elements, a certain order and structure emerge. With these minimal elements, it becomes possible to frame things. The paintings possess both energy and dynamism, and they establish a relationship between space and time. Although they are flat surfaces, that very flatness expands through these elements.
Response paintings by Lee Ufan
Photo David Giancatarina
Describe the sculpture “Relatum” in the Cuisine Haute room.
This room carries an extraordinarily long history; time itself seems to breathe here. It is also a sacred place. Above us, it is as though one ascends toward the heavens; below, one descends into the depths of the earth. I wanted to create a bridge between these two realms. That association of ideas gave rise to this work. Its cylindrical form connects above and below, allowing the viewer to stand as a witness to infinity.
How did the history of Palais des Papes influence your outdoor sculpture “Relatum—Beyond”?
This place is almost like a ruin, yet long history and deep time continue to breathe within it. Throughout that time, people have arrived and departed. Something comes toward us from the other side, while at the same time we feel drawn to move toward it. In this long-breathing time, things are constantly arriving and leaving. The entire past has passed through this place, yet one can also feel the wind coming from tomorrow—the world of the future. I wanted to create a place of encounter within this space.
What do you hope visitors will take away from this exhibition?
A few years ago, I created an exhibition at Alyscamps in Arles, a Roman necropolis. The Palais des Papes is different—it is a great religious monument—but it too is a place where one still feels history breathing today. That experience inspired this exhibition. It is an encounter with ancient time. It taught me a great deal. Every visitor who passes through this place may perhaps sense traces, scents and breaths of history. If this exhibition can offer even a small impulse to those who continue into the future, I will be very happy.
What do you aim to achieve through your work?
What I seek through my work is simplification, purification. It is not merely that the work should become minimal; rather, I myself must become minimal. Through this process, I wanted to reveal something greater than humanity—a kind of divine heart. Only through simplification and purification can one perceive another world. It is not simply about minimizing the ego; it is about opening oneself to something beyond it.