Three and a half years in the making, Lee Mingwei: Rituals of Care is set to open at de Young on February 17. Lee’s first survey exhibition in the U.S. features seven mixed-media projects made between 1995 and 2024. His participatory art installations invite visitors and artists to engage with art and each other to forge social connection and find solace.
The full exhibition spans across the de Young, and Lee’s newest work, Chaque souffle une danse (Each Breath a Dance, 2024), will be on view at Minnesota Street Project Foundation on April 5. By design, it feels like the exhibition encourages visitors to travel across the museum and beyond to explore community and make connections.
Blurring the boundaries between art, artist, and visitor, Lee’s work depends on the visitor’s participation in order for the work to come to life. In other words, the visitor’s engagement is vital to amplifying the work’s meaning and impact. The exhibition embraces the visitor’s choice to engage in its various installations and the serendipity of strangers interacting.
For The Letter Writing Project (1998-present), visitors are invited to write a letter they’ve been meaning to write but never did. The writer may choose to have the letter sent to a specific address, placed on display for other visitors to read, or sealed as a private letter, allowing the writer to convey their message privately or publicly. As for The Mending Project (2009–present), visitors can bring an item of damaged clothing for a museum volunteer to not only mend, but embellish upon the fabric’s damage. Throughout the mending process, the visitor and volunteer are encouraged to engage in conversation, which may be written in a journal documenting the act of mending and sharing between two strangers. By chance, a visitor may find artist Lee himself mending their garment.
Taking a refreshed approach to simple practices in life, Lee’s exhibition gives visitors the gift of reflection and engagement.
