Nowness x Art Basel
Profile of legendary Korean artist Lee Ufan at his studio in Japan.

Lee Ufan is a singular artist. 

Few can convey infinity in a brushstroke or tease presence from the void, as he does. The source of his creativity stems from a childhood in which he was raised with strict Confucian ideals and schooled in poetry and calligraphy.

In the early Sixties, after moving to Japan to study philosophy at Nihon University, he emerged as a leader in the Mono-ha (“School of Things”) movement; an aesthetic theory that rejected Western modern art. The movement also explored the properties of natural and industrial materials, to show their dismay at the rampant industrialization of Japan.

In this episode of “Meet The Artists,” produced by Nowness and Art Basel, I brought a small crew to the 84-year-old master’s studio in Kamakura, Japan. In the approach and edit, I tried to emulate Ufan’s ascetic minimalism and capture his uniquely philosophical approach to art. 

Writer/Director
Dan Buyanovsky

DP
Mikul Eriksson 

AC
Yuka Mashiro

Producer
Yuumi Aoyama

Translator
Kayla Dahee Kim

Music
Flora Yin Wong

Edit/Color
Victor Ivanov

EP
Mike Sunda

Production
PUSH Tokyo

Thanks
Katie Metcalfe, Jim Demuth, Jeanne-Salomé Rochat

An elderly man with gray hair sitting outdoors on a rock in a Japanese garden, surrounded by gravel, rocks, trees, and a wooden fence.
Minimalist Japanese Zen garden with white gravel, large rocks, a red square wall, and surrounding trees and wooden fence.
A small creek flows through a wooded area with leafless and evergreen trees on the banks. In the background, there are residential buildings with multiple floors, partially obscured by the trees. The sky is overcast.
An elderly woman sitting on a chair in a cluttered room by a large window with green trees outside. The room has bookshelves filled with books on the left and piles of paper and miscellaneous items scattered around.
A dark brown, cylindrical container with a rounded top, possibly a bottle or jar, against a plain, light-colored background.
Profile of an elderly man with gray hair in an outdoor setting with green trees in the background.