Born 1957 in Taiwan's Kaohsiung City, LEE Ming-tse lived and worked in Taipei in the 1980s before moving back home in the early 1990s. Lee’s artistic talent was first recognized when he won the 6th Simba Lion New Artist Award in 1981. In 1996, he launched his solo exhibition “The Front & Rear Ends of Formosa” at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. In the same year, he was also invited to show his works at the second edition of Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in Brisbane as well as the Taipei Biennial, themed "The Quest for Identity". In 1997, LEE participated in "Taiwan: Facing Faces" at the National Pavilion of Taiwan in the 47th Venice Biennale. In 2009, LEE launched another solo show titled "I Love Taiwan and Love Southern Taiwan More" at the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts. Mind Set Art Center presented his work at Art Basel Hong Kong in 2018, displayed under the title "The Play of a Taiwan Ranger". Lee’s works have been collected by the White Rabbit Gallery in Australia, the Fukuoka Art Museum in Japan, the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, and the Hong-gah Museum, among others.
LEE's art is a unique concoction of his thoughts on everyday life, visual inspiration of temple decorations, structured narrative inspired by novels, elements in comic books, Wuxia literature and mythology. By mixing different techniques and transforming art mediums, the artist has managed to break the barrier between folklore and contemporary art, and bring back cherished memories. LEE brings together different items, symbol, stories and mediums to build his own stage. It is on this stage that he creates his own unique aesthetics with local flavor and global perspective.