Lee Wen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lee Wen (b. 1957) is a Singaporean performance artist and was awarded the Cultural Medallion in 2005.

[edit] Work

Lee Wen is best known for his "Yellow Man" performances, in which he paints his body with bright yellow poster paint, an exaggerated symbol of his ethnic identity as a citizen of Singapore. Much of Lee Wen's work deals with the themes of culture and identity. Since the late 1990s he has been a part of the Black Market performance collective.

The artist's statement includes: "Cultural production exists in dialectical relationship between society and the individual as also between the artist and the community. We all exist within a social system which is seemingly internally coherent but may not be easily translated outside. Our interpretations of the world helps us to take possible actions to create changes for a positive direction. However the situation changes as one moves from one location to another. We live in a complex transnational and global meetings, mixings and clashings of differing cultural perceptions at an increasing rate and pace never seen before."

Lee Wen has been represented at the Busan Biennale (2004), the 3rd Asia Pacific Triennial in Brisbane (1999), the Sexta Bienal de La Habana (1997), the Kwang Ju Biennial (1995), among other events. With the help of the Artists Village, he initiated the performance art event Future of Imagination in Singapore, which has been held since 2003.