Installation view of The Face of Life: Modern Portraits at The Met. Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, photo by Hyla Skopitz.
The Face of Life: Modern Portraits at The Met | The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
May 18, 2026 − Ongoing
Lee Bul’s work is on view in The Face of Life: Modern Portraits at The Met at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Drawing from the Museum’s collection, the exhibition explores the varied languages of twentieth-century portraiture, extending its inquiry into bodily presence, absence, and representation through works by contemporary artists.
Long Tail Halo: CTCS #2 (2024) is one of a series of monumental sculptures created for The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 2024 facade commission and was acquired by the Museum the following year. The sculpture brings together references to classical sculpture and the visual language of the artist’s Cyborg series. With its headless, armless body, broken wing, and striding pose, the figure evokes a form that is at once classical and futuristic, vulnerable and resilient.
