Yongwoo Lee is an art historian, educator, critic and curator based in Seoul and New York. He is over-all director of Gwangju Biennale

Gwangju Biennale

The Gwangju Biennale, which started in September 1995 in the city of Gwangju in the South Jeolla province of South Korea, was Asia's first contemporary art biennale. The purpose of Gwangju Biennale is globalization of art and it respect diversity rather than uniformity...

 Foundation since 2008.

Biography

He was a professor of art history and critical theory at the Korea University

Korea University

Korea University is a prestigious nonsectarian, private research university located primarily in Seoul, South Korea, and one of the SKY universities, a historical acronym used in South Korea to refer to Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University. Founded by Lee Yong-ik in...

 and lectured at many different colleges in the States and in Europe. He obtained his Ph.D in art history at the Oxford University. He is founding editor of the critical art journal NOON since 2009.

Curator career

Yongwoo Lee is the founding director of Gwangju Biennale

Gwangju Biennale

The Gwangju Biennale, which started in September 1995 in the city of Gwangju in the South Jeolla province of South Korea, was Asia's first contemporary art biennale. The purpose of Gwangju Biennale is globalization of art and it respect diversity rather than uniformity...

 in 1995 with the theme "Beyond the Borders", which substantially was the first international biennial in Asia. The first edition of Gwangju Biennale attracted 1.63 million spectators and the number of audience still remains as the largest in the history of biennials. He was again invited as artistic director of 2004 Gwangju Biennale for its 10 years anniversary. Related to Gwangju Biennale, he curated The Flower of May, in May 2010, for 30 years anniversary of Gwangju citizens' uprising occurred in May 1980 where he invited Alfredo Jaar

Alfredo Jaar

Alfredo Jaar is a Chilean-born artist, architect, and filmmaker who lives in New York. He was born in 1956 in Santiago de Chile. He is mostly known as an installation artist, often incorporating photography and covering socio-political issues and war - the best known perhaps being the 6-year long...

, Dora Garcia, Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei is a Chinese contemporary artist, active in sculpture, installation, architecture, curating, photography, film, and social, political and cultural criticism. Ai collaborated with Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron as the artistic consultant on the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008...

, Michelangelo Pistoletto

Michelangelo Pistoletto

Michelangelo Pistoletto is an Italian painter, action and object artist, and art theorist. Pistoletto is acknowledged as one of the main representatives of the Italian Arte Povera...

, Candice Breitz

Candice Breitz

Candice Breitz South African artist Born in Johannesburg, 1972Professor of Fine Art at the Braunschweig University of Art since 2007. Breitz has shown her work on the international art scene for many years and is best known for her video works and installations.Candice Breitz is represented by...

, Baptist Coelho, Lee Bul

Lee Bul

Lee Bul is one of the most prominent contemporary artists to have emerged from Asia in the 1990s.In 1999, she came to prominence when she represented Korea in the Venice Biennale.- Education :...

, Kader Atia, Caecilia Tripp, Dalyong Heo, among others.
Tigers Tail in Venice Biennale

Venice Biennale

The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...

(1995) is one of collateral events curated by Lee in which over 50 Asian contemporary artists including Nam June Paik

Nam June Paik

Nam June Paik was a Korean American artist. He worked with a variety of media and is considered to be the first video artist....

, Ufan Lee, On Kawara

On Kawara

is a Japanese conceptual artist living in New York City since 1965. He has shown in many solo and group exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale in 1976.-Early life:After graduating from Kariya High School in 1951, Kawara moved to Tokyo...

, Sooja Kim, among others were invited at the Casino and Palazzo Vendramin in Venice.

Publications

As a writer, critic and editor, Lee has been a regular contributor to numerous exhibition catalogues, anthologies and journals. He is founding editor and publisher of the critical art journal NOON: a journal of contemporary art, semiotics, aesthetics, cultural studies, art history established in 2009.
His writings have appeared in numerous journals, catalogues, books, and magazines including: Flash Art, Monthly Art, College Art Journal, among others.
Among his single-authorship books are Information and Reality (Fruitmarket Gallery Edinburgh), Nam June Paik (Samsung Publication), The Origins of Video Art (Munye Madang). Essays also appeared in many books such as Electronic Super Highway (Hatje Cantz), Shamano del Video (Edizione Mazzota), among others.
Yongwoo Lee serves on numerous juries, advisory bodies, and curatorial teams including: the jury for Venice Biennale Unesco Prize, Ljubljana Graphic Biennale, and advisory board of Shanghai Biennale

Shanghai Biennale

The Shanghai Biennale is the highest-profile contemporary art event in the city and the most established art biennale in China.Aside from its main museum show, it also includes talks, lectures and installations in various venues throughout the city....

, Biennial Foundation and so on.