Dan Lie

Dan Lie transforms Mudam’s Grand Hall into a living ecosystem of decay and renewal. The artist’s practice centres on the often-overlooked processes of decomposition and decay as sources of life and renewal. Lie proposes a living, evolving installation in which fungi, soil, plants, textiles and decomposing matter – all of which the artist describes as ‘other-than-human’ companions – interact and transform over time. Central to Lie’s practice is an engagement with death and grieving rituals, which the artist connects to a critique of human protagonism within planetary systems. Rejecting fixed categories and restrictive binaries, Lie challenges rigid conceptual boundaries as a means of exploring life, death and the continual processes of becoming and transformation. Time, transformation and decay are recurring concerns in their work, revealing decomposition not as an ending but as a generative, life-sustaining force. For Mudam, Dan Lie has been invited to create a new, large-scale installation for the Grand Hall, a space conceived as the museum’s public plaza and a place for communal encounter. Rather than resisting unpredictability, Lie embraces the transformations that emerge when different materials meet, introducing an element of the unknown into the museum’s often tightly controlled environment. Biography Dan Lie (b. 1988, São Paulo) is a Berlin-based artist. They have presented solo exhibitions at venues including Spike Island, Bristol (2025); Pinacoteca de São Paulo and Art Sonje Center, Seoul (2024); Kunstverein Braunschweig and ZwingliKirche, Berlin (2023); New Museum, New York (2022); and Casa do Povo, São Paulo, and Jupiter Artland, Edinburgh (2019). Their work has also been presented in group exhibitions, including the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia; Sak-Da: The Poetics of Decomposition , MMCA, Seoul (2026); Histórias da ecologia , MASP, São Paulo (2025); Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (2024); the 35th Bienal de São Paulo (2023); and the 58th Carnegie International, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh (2022). Lie lives and works in Berlin.

Lie proposes a living, evolving installation in which fungi, soil, plants, textiles and decomposing matter – all of which the artist describes as ‘other-than-human’ companions – interact and transform over time. Central to Lie’s practice is an engagement with death and grieving rituals, which the artist connects to a critique of human protagonism within planetary systems. Rejecting fixed categories and restrictive binaries, Lie challenges rigid conceptual boundaries as a means of exploring life, death and the continual processes of becoming and transformation. Time, transformation and decay are recurring concerns in their work, revealing decomposition not as an ending but as a generative, life-sustaining force. For Mudam, Dan Lie has been invited to create a new, large-scale installation for the Grand Hall, a space conceived as the museum’s public plaza and a place for communal encounter. Rather than resisting unpredictability, Lie embraces the transformations that emerge when different materials meet, introducing an element of the unknown into the museum’s often tightly controlled environment. Biography Dan Lie (b. 1988, São Paulo) is a Berlin-based artist. They have presented solo exhibitions at venues including Spike Island, Bristol (2025); Pinacoteca de São Paulo and Art Sonje Center, Seoul (2024); Kunstverein Braunschweig and ZwingliKirche, Berlin (2023); New Museum, New York (2022); and Casa do Povo, São Paulo, and Jupiter Artland, Edinburgh (2019). Their work has also been presented in group exhibitions, including the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia; Sak-Da: The Poetics of Decomposition , MMCA, Seoul (2026); Histórias da ecologia , MASP, São Paulo (2025); Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (2024); the 35th Bienal de São Paulo (2023); and the 58th Carnegie International, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh (2022). Lie lives and works in Berlin.