Maia Ruth Lee (b. 1983) was born in Busan, South Korea and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal. She moved to New York City in 2011 after receiving her BFA from Hongik University in Seoul, Korea and attending the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver, Canada. Lee is now based in Salida, Colorado, where she has been living for four years with her family. Her interdisciplinary practice spans painting, sculpture, photography, and video, allowing her to explore the larger themes of community, borders, and language as she shifts between mediums. by transmuting sculptures into paintings in her ongoing Bondage Baggage series.
Lee has had solo exhibitions at the Tina Kim Gallery (NY), Museum of Contemporary Art Denver (CO), and François Ghebaly Gallery (LA). Her most recent solo exhibition was The skin of the earth is seamless at Tina Kim Gallery, New York in 2023. She has participated in the 2019 Whitney Biennial and an array of group exhibitions at the Aspen Art Museum (CO), Fotografiska New York, Gió Marconi Gallery (Milan), and Mai 36 Galerie (Zurich). Lee was awarded the Gold Art Prize in 2021 and the Rema Hort Mann Grant in 2017. Her work is held in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art.
She is currently preparing for her next solo exhibition at François Gallery, Los Angeles, opening in May.
B.B.L RED UMBRA I-41, 2023, India ink on canvas, 70 x127 inches, 177.8 x 322.6 cm
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B.B.L RED UMBRA I-41, 2023, India ink on canvas, 70 x127 inches, 177.8 x 322.6 cm
The skin of the earth is seamless installation, 2023
Image courtesy of Tina Kim Gallery and artist
Enlarged image
The skin of the earth is seamless installation, 2023
Image courtesy of Tina Kim Gallery and artist
B.B. 23-6, B.B. 23-7, B.B. 23-8, Tarp, tape, luggage, used clothing, bedding, 2023
Image courtesy of Tina Kim Gallery and artist
Enlarged image
B.B. 23-6, B.B. 23-7, B.B. 23-8, Tarp, tape, luggage, used clothing, bedding, 2023
Image courtesy of Tina Kim Gallery and artist
B.B Pods, Rope, India ink, 2023
Image courtesy of Tina Kim Gallery and artist
Enlarged image
B.B Pods, Rope, India ink, 2023
Image courtesy of Tina Kim Gallery and artist
Migrant Reader installation, 2022
Image courtesy of François Ghebaly Gallery and artist
Enlarged image
Migrant Reader installation, 2022
Image courtesy of François Ghebaly Gallery and artist
The Stranger, Video, color, sound, 23:45 min
Bondage Baggage Check-in, tarp, tape, rоpe, modular furniture, red gel spotlight, 2022
Mountain/Time curated by Chrissie lles, Anisa Jackson, and Simone Krug, Aspen Art Museum,
Image courtesy of Aspen Art Museum
Enlarged image
The Stranger, Video, color, sound, 23:45 min
Bondage Baggage Check-in, tarp, tape, rоpe, modular furniture, red gel spotlight, 2022
Mountain/Time curated by Chrissie lles, Anisa Jackson, and Simone Krug, Aspen Art Museum,
Image courtesy of Aspen Art Museum
Language of grief 1-9, ink on canvas, and Dictation, fabric bandages on canvas, 2021
Colorado in the Present Tense curated by Nora Abrams
Image courtesy of MCA Denver and artist
Enlarged image
Language of grief 1-9, ink on canvas, and Dictation, fabric bandages on canvas, 2021
Colorado in the Present Tense curated by Nora Abrams
Image courtesy of MCA Denver and artist
LABYRINTH, Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, May 17-Oct 27, 2019
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LABYRINTH, Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, May 17-Oct 27, 2019
Maia Ruth Lee (b. 1983) was born in Busan, South Korea and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal. She moved to New York City in 2011 after receiving her BFA from Hongik University in Seoul, Korea and attending the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver, Canada. Lee is now based in Salida, Colorado, where she has been living for four years with her family. Her interdisciplinary practice spans painting, sculpture, photography, and video, allowing her to explore the larger themes of community, borders, and language as she shifts between mediums. by transmuting sculptures into paintings in her ongoing Bondage Baggage series. 
