Tino Sehgal and the constructed situations at Leeum Museum of Art

Tino Sehgal condenses 25 years of his immaterial practice in his first Korean solo exhibition at Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul, where eight constructed situations unfold across the building and sculpture collection.

From the AD HOC NEWS Art Desk » Award & Prize Desk - The editors cover exhibitions, auctions, collections, prizes and artistic positions. Published: August 20, 2026 · Last checked: August 20, 2026, 1:42 PM

Tino Sehgal has spent more than two decades refining his idea of constructed situations as living sculpture. His first Korean solo exhibition at Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul, which ran from March 3 to June 28, 2026, gathered eight such works across the museum spaces, as the Leeum announcement and an e-flux notice document.

The Seoul exhibition across the museum

The exhibition Tino Sehgal at Leeum Museum of Art unfolded simultaneously in the entrance, lobby, main galleries and outdoor garden, turning circulation spaces into choreographed encounters between visitors and interpreters. Three of the eight situations rotated on a six-week schedule, shifting the exhibition's rhythm over its nearly four-month run.

According to the museum-focused announcement on e-flux, the show presented eight constructed situations, including a new work, installed in dialogue with sculptures from the Leeum collection by artists such as Auguste Rodin and Felix Gonzalez-Torres. Photography and video recording were strictly prohibited, reinforcing Sehgal's longstanding insistence that these works exist only in the moment of encounter.

Leeum in the broader exhibition timeline

Leeum's exhibition followed closely on the Dutch premiere of Sehgal's live work This youiiyou at De Pont Museum in Tilburg, which was shown daily between September 13, 2025 and March 1, 2026. De Pont emphasized the work's quiet, transformative space of embodied reflection, extending Sehgal's interest in how visitors' movement and attention shape the work experience.

Marian Goodman Gallery, which has followed Sehgal's practice over many years, lists the long-term project Aura Ama Venezia in Venice from May 4 to November 21, 2026 and the earlier solo presentation This Joy in March 2026 as key recent exhibitions. Together with Leeum, these presentations chart the artist's current focus on sustained, durational formats where performers and visitors co-produce the work.

The work core and constructed situations

Sehgal's practice centers on immaterial, choreographed situations enacted by trained interpreters who sing, speak and move with visitors rather than present fixed objects. At Leeum, this took the form of lobby encounters where interpreters invited audiences into conversation or song, effectively turning visitors into co-authors of the work.

Because Sehgal refuses photographs, video documentation or catalogues, the works persist primarily through memory and oral description. This stance extends the legacy of performance and conceptual art while challenging museums to adapt registration, conservation and mediation practices to experiences that leave almost no physical trace.

Where the artist stands now

Within the last year, the sequence from De Pont to Leeum and the ongoing project Aura Ama Venezia confirms Sehgal's current focus on large-scale, institution-wide constructed situations, often unfolding over several months and relying on embodied memory rather than visual documentation.

Key facts on Tino Sehgal

• Artist: Tino Sehgal
• Medium / Genre: Performance and installation (constructed situations)
• Born: 1976, London, United Kingdom
• Place(s) of practice: Berlin
• Active since: Early 2000s, with increasing institutional exhibitions from mid-2000s
• Key work groups: This is so contemporary, This variation, This youiiyou, Aura Ama Venezia
• Current/last exhibition: Tino Sehgal, Leeum Museum of Art, Seoul, March 3, 2026 - June 28, 2026
• Major collections: Guggenheim Museum (New York), Tate (London), Hamburger Bahnhof - Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart (Berlin)
• Awards: Golden Lion for Best Artist, Venice Biennale 2013 (German Pavilion)
• Next date: currently no announced date in the 30-day window

Frequently asked questions about Tino Sehgal

Where could visitors experience Tino Sehgal's work most recently?
Most recently, visitors encountered eight constructed situations by Tino Sehgal in his solo exhibition at Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul, which ran from March 3 to June 28, 2026.

What distinguished the Tino Sehgal exhibition at Leeum Museum of Art?
The Leeum exhibition presented eight live, immaterial works across entrance, galleries and garden, combined with 26 sculptures from the collection, while prohibiting photography and printed catalogues to keep the focus on direct experience.

How does Tino Sehgal integrate visitors into his constructed situations?
Sehgal works with interpreters who sing, move and speak with visitors, often initiating conversations or choreographed actions so that audience members become active participants in the work rather than observers.

This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.