Lee Wen

Infobox Artist
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name = Lee Wen (李文)


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birthdate = 1957
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nationality = Singapore
field = Performance art
training = Lasalle-SIA College of the Arts
City of London Polytechnic
movement = Contemporary art
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influenced by = Tang Da Wu, The Artists Village
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awards = 2005: Cultural Medallion (Visual Art)

Lee Wen (zh-sp|s=李文|p=Lǐ Wén) is a Singaporean performance artist on social identity themes, and best known for his "Yellow Man" performances. Painting his own body with bright yellow poster paint, he expresses an exaggerated symbol of his ethnic identity as a citizen of Singapore. He is also a member of The Artists Village (TAV), and part of the Black Market performance collective.

In 1988 Lee Wen left behind a banking career to enrol at the Lasalle-SIA College of the Arts at the age of 30. He expressed himself with both painting and various non-traditional media, having influenced by performance artist Tang Da Wu and other experimental artists Amanda Heng and Vincent Leow from The Artists Village. In 1990, Lee went on to study at the City of London Polytechnic, and it was then that Lee had found his true calling as a performance artist. He went on to develop the "Yellow Man" persona which gained him his first recognition in the arts community. This progressed to the "Journey of a Yellow Man" series of works involving mixed-media, installation, performances and paintings. Lee Wen's work quickly gained international recognition since 1993, having performed and showcasing his artistic expressions in many international locations such as the "Kwang Ju Biennale", at the "3rd Asia Pacific Triennial" in Australia in 1999.citation|title=2005 Arts Awards Souvenir Programme|location=Singapore|publisher=National Arts Council|page=6|url=http://www.nac.gov.sg/Data/announcement/44/2005%20Arts%20Awards%20Souvenir%20Programme%20(web).pdf]

In 2003, Lee spearheaded the "Future of Imagination" international performance art event at The Substation, and at the Sculpture Square in 2004 with foreign performance artists such as Alastair MacLennan from Northern Ireland, Finnish artist Irma Optimist and Marilyn Arsem from USA. Lee saw the value of having an annual gathering of international artists here in Singapore, to share a continuing interest in the cultural constructs of identity in the global situation and current trends of contemporary art practice, through live performances and discussion forms. [citation|contribution="The Future of Imagination" - international performance art event|title=Annex 2|location=Singapore|publisher=National Arts Council|url=http://www.nac.gov.sg/Data/news/325/Annex%202%20-SAS2007.doc]

Lee also taught art at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and at his alma-mater back home in Singapore. He had also taught workshops at Hanoi University of Fine Arts, University of Ulster, UK, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico City, and Musashino Art University, Tokyo. On October 21 2005, Lee Wen was presented with the highest cultural award, the Cultural Medallion for his immense contributions to the development of local contemporary art.

olo Exhibitions

Further reading

* Chin Hock Seng (1981), ‘Pop dog’ artist shares a dream, The Straits Times, Singapore. May 9, 1981

* Lee Wen (1981) A Waking Dream - drawings and poetry, Singapore : Select Books

* Ng Sek Chow, Yellow reflections, The Straits Times, Singapore, July 23, 1993

* Chandrasekaran.S., Langenbach, R. & Lee Wen (1993), Local Performance Art, Democracy: Commentary. Journal of the National University of Singapore Society, Singapore, National University of Singapore Society (Vol.11 No. 2)

* Swinson, James, Lee Wen Connection / Location, Third Text/ no.45 Winter, London 1998-99 - pp.95-97

* Lee Weng Choy, Artist essay on Lee Wen, The Third AsiaPacificTriennale 1999 Catalogue, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane Australia.

* Lee Weng Choy, (2000), Just What Is it that Makes the Term Global-Local So Widely Cited, Yet So Annoying?, "Flight Patterns: picturing the Pacific Rim" catalogue, Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles (A shorter version of this essay was first published in Artlink, Volume 20 Number 2, June 2000.)

* Woon Tien Wei, Between Journeys: an Interview with Lee Wen, Performance Research 6(l), pp.3 7 © Taylor & Francis Ltd 2001

* Barragan, Paco, The Art To Come, Subastas Siglo XXI, Madrid 2002

* Oon, Clarissa, Hello, yellow fellow, The Straits Times, Singapore, October 21, 2003

* Glenis Israel, Senior Artwise 2 visual arts 11-12, Part 3 Asian Artists – contemporary, Chapter 14, John Wiley & Sons Australia Ltd, Sydney 2004

* HO Tzu Nyen, “strange fruit”, Art Asia Pacific / Spring 2004 No.40

ee also

*Cultural Medallion
*The Artists Village (TAV)

References

External links

* [http://www.araiart.jp/myan2911.html Biography and list of works]
* [http://foi.sg/ Future of Imagination]
* [http://www.cityofswan.com/nrla/lee.htm "Yellow Man"]
* [http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~ee1s-ari/1124leewen.html Lee Wen at 4th ASIATOPIA]
* [http://www.gasworks.org.uk/varts/lee_wen/ Text by Lee Wen - "Connection/location"]
* [http://www.apt3.net/apt3/artists/artist_bios/lee_wen_a.htm Journey of a Yellow Man]