Lee Bae, born in Cheongdo, South Korea, in 1956, is a contemporary Korean artist living and working between Paris and Seoul. He received bachelor's and master's degrees in fine arts from Hongik University and has become an internationally prominent representative of Korean monochrome and material-based art.

His most important material is charcoal. This is fascinating because charcoal is not simply a black pigment; it is “what remains of wood’s life after fire.” Perrotin describes his work aptly: Lee Bae’s art reveals the material and symbolic power of “wood shaped by fire.”

For Lee Bae, charcoal connects Korean cultural memory, the ink of calligraphy, fire, nature, death, and rebirth. The PHI Foundation notes that, in Korean tradition, charcoal also symbolizes purification, moisture control, protection of a space, and the welcoming of new life. His black is therefore not simply black, but a black imbued with cultural memory and spirituality.