Last night’s private view of Lee Bul’s major survey exhibition at the Hayward Gallery was cancelled with just two hours notice after one of the works caught fire.
The gallery confirmed that no one was hurt in the incident, but that the gallery will remain closed today (30 May). The Hayward Gallery will release further information on when the exhibition will open to the public.
It is not clear which of the Korean artist’s works caught fire, but the exhibition features large-scale installations including, in what sounds suspiciously like tempting fate, a tin-foil zeppelin titled Willing to Be Vulnerable (2015-16). The show – which runs to 19 August – is called Crashing.
Update: The Hayward Gallery, which reopened on 1 June to the public, has confirmed that the work to catch fire was Majestic Splendor (1991–2018), an installation composed of rotting fish in potassium permanganate. The gallery was, after the press preview, advised to withdraw the work from the exhibition, but in the process of its removal the work set on fire.
