Lee Kit

Internationally esteemed Hong Kong based artist Lee Kit works against his education as a traditional painter, with every piece rooted in the process of its creation rather than the product. Lee covers fabrics with acrylic stripes, plaids and song lyrics with obsessive care. Each piece appears abstract and minimal in its simple execution, but not without a real world purpose upon completion. The hand painted cloths become picnic blankets, towels, tablecloths and window curtains.  The works are infused into Lee’s life and memories, collecting stains and spirit in its everyday use. These paintings are then retired and displayed as testaments to the memories they witnessed, laden with more life and warmth than the stark ambience customary to minimal and conceptual art found in galleries today. Exhibitions include Lee Kit: Hold your breath, dance slowly, The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Lee Kit: A small sound in your head, S.M.A.K., Ghent; You(you)., representing Hong Kong at The 55th Venice Biennale; The Ungovernables New Museum Triennial, New York; No Soul For Sale, Tate Modern, London.

LEE Kit (b. 1978, China) live and woks in Taipei, Taiwan. He received his BFA (2003) and his MFA (2008) from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. His work has been exhibited at the Hong-gah Museum, Taipei, Taiwan; Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan; Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, China; Yo-chang Museum, Taipei, Taiwan; ArtSonje Center, Seoul, Korea; AIKE, Shanghai, China; Arrow Factory, Beijing, China; Casa Masaccio, Tuscany, Italy; Cattle Depot, Hong Kong; The Cube, Taipei, Taiwan; Enjoy Public Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand; Hara Museum, Tokyo, Japan; Hong Kong Pavilion, The 55th Venice Biennale; Hong-gah Museum, Taipei, Taiwan; Hospitality, Cologne, Germany; Lyon Biennial, France; Massimo de Carlo, London, UK; MiArt, Milan, Italy; Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China; Mother’s Tankstation, Dublin, Ireland; Observation Society, Guangzhou, China; OCAT, Shenzhen, China; Osage Soho, Hong Kong; SH Contemporary Hot Sport, Shanghai, China; S.M.A.K. Ghent, Belgium; Western Front, Vancouver, Canada and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN. In 2008 he was a resident of the Bolton Street Residency Program in Wellington, New Zealand. Lee was nominated for the Hugo Boss Asia Art Award in 2013 and a finalist of the Sovereign Asian Art Prize in 2009. He was awarded the Art Futures Award from ArtHK (2012) and Cheung’s Fine Arts Award for Painting (2003). Lee’s works are included in the public collections of the Bonnefantanmuseum, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Daimler Collection, Berlin, Germany; DSL Collection, Paris, France; Institut d’Art Contemporain, Lyon, France; Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong; M+, Hong Kong; Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Tate Modern, London, UK; and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN.

Gallery Exhibitions