Taiwan-born artist Lee Ming-wei sweeps sands during a presentation at the de Young Museum in San Francisco on March 23, 2024. Photo: CNA
Taipei, March 31 (CNA) Seven immersive projects created by Taiwan-born artist Lee Ming-wei (李明維) are being shown in an exhibition at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, including creating a new work by destroying a sand replica of a Pablo Picasso painting.
Lee's presentation of "Guernica in Sand," which involves the artist and visitors walking, brushing, sweeping, or sitting on a recreation of Picasso's 1937 painting "Guernica" in sands, took place in California on March 23.
Recalling his first time presenting the piece in London in 2006, Lee said his mother kicked things off by stepping on the sand sculpture.
Lee said he and his mother had a tearful and emotional interaction when they were both "changing" and "destroying" the perfectly recreated sand painting as both of them were trying to find a balance in their complex and even contradictory feelings.
In addition to the one-time presentation, Lee or a guest host also takes part in "The Mending Project" daily during the exhibition that runs from Feb. 17-July 7, mending clothes brought in by visitors.
"The mending is done with the idea of celebrating and commemorating the act of repair," according to the museum. "This conscious embrace and highlighting of the fabric's scar(s) speaks to the emotional work of mending as a means to deal with trauma and loss."
Meanwhile, Lee's latest work "Chaque souffle une danse (Each Breath a Dance)" will premiere as a live performance at the Minnesota Street Project Foundation in San Francisco on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays between April 5 and May 5.
The 45-minute dance piece commissioned by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco will be presented as a 17-minute film at the de Young Museum from April 9, according to the museum.
Each move and each breath in piece, during which a dancer will perform while lighting up 60 candles and then blowing them off, could be a kind of self-exploration and self-healing, Lee said.
"The style of works created in my 20s is like imitating masterpieces," said the artist born in 1964. "The new piece is more mature and is something that grew with my life experiences. It's a part of the aesthetic of my own, and represents the messages I want to share."
Lee's solo exhibition "Lee Mingwei: Rituals of Care" also shows "How Lee Mingwei's Art is Mending the Social Fabric," a film directed by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco's Megan Bates, through the event's conclusion on July 7.
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