Lee Kang So: A Field of Becoming
On view: May 13 - June 20, 2026
Tuesday - Friday: 10 AM - 6 PM / Saturday: 11 AM - 5 PM
It is closed on Sunday and Monday.
Venue: Atrium & Gallery at the KCCNY
122 East 32nd Street, New York, NY, 10016
Opening Ceremony
Tuesday, May 12 (6-8 PM)
Over the past five decades, Lee Kang So (b. 1943) has developed a distinctive and influential practice within Korean contemporary art. Working across painting, sculpture, installation, photography, and performance since the 1970s, he has consistently challenged fixed definitions of artistic form, approaching art as an open and evolving process rather than a finished object.
This exhibition, A Field of Becoming, brings together works from the 1970s to the present, tracing the continuity and transformation of Lee’s practice. From his early experimental works—where action, material, and environment intersect—to later paintings and sculptures, Lee’s work unfolds through time, resisting closure and embracing change.
Lee’s artistic trajectory is closely connected to New York. In the mid-1980s, he was active as a visiting professor and artist at the State University of New York, Albany, and in the early 1990s participated in the Studio Artist Program at MoMA PS1. Decades later, this exhibition at the Korean Cultural Center New York marks a renewed encounter—bringing his work into dialogue with the city that played a formative role in its development.
Featured Artworks
Untitled - 90086 (1990)
Untitled-94215 (1994)
Becoming-10-C-180 (2010)
From a River-99215 (1999)
Untitled-91026 (1991)
About the Artist
Lee Kang So received his BFA from Seoul National University and emerged in the early 1970s as part of Korea’s experimental art movement. Since then, he has exhibited extensively in Korea and internationally, with solo exhibitions at institutions such as the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), Daegu Art Museum, and Musée d’art moderne et contemporain de Saint-Étienne, as well as galleries including Gallery Hyundai and Thaddaeus Ropac.
Lee has also participated in major international exhibitions and biennales, including presentations at Tate Modern, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the São Paulo Biennale. His work is held in prominent public and private collections worldwide, such as the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Lee currently lives and works in Anseong, Korea.