Lee Bul Sculptures Added to Met Museum Façade

Lee Bul b. 1964, South Korea Follow +

Four sculptures by South Korean artist Lee Bul have been added to the façade of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Fifth Avenue for the annual Genesis Façade Commission, now in its fifth edition.

The works are made of ethylene vinyl acetate or polycarbonate parts over steel armatures. The works flanking the museum entrance—Long Tail Halo: CTCS #1 and Long Tail Halo: CTCS #2—resemble Cubist and Futurist depictions of human forms.

Long Tail Halo: Secret Sharer II and Long Tail Halo: Secret Sharer III, located in niches further from the doors, are tumbles of prisms inspired by the behaviour of the artist’s pets.

Lesley Ma, a curator in the museum’s Department of Modern and Contemporary Art, said, ‘Lee Bul brings her signature visual language to the facade niches and provokes us with her elegant yet haunting figures. Long Tail Halo animates the facade and triggers layers of associations that will keep us thinking about the role of sculpture in contemporary culture.’

Lee Bul said, ‘My hope is that a personal connection and resonance will be created between the public, the artwork, and the architecture.’

The works will remain on view through 27 May, 2025. —[O]

Main image: Left to right: Lee Bul, LongTail Halo: CTCS #1 (2024). Stainless steel, ethylene-vinyl acetate, carbon fibre, paint, and polyurethane; Long Tail Halo: The Secret Sharer II (2024). Stainless steel, polycarbonate, acrylic, and polyurethane. Courtesy the artist and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo: Eugenia Burnett Tinsley.