haegue yang, 2026. photo: kyungmok seok
haegue yang
1971, Seoul
Haegue Yang seeks to communicate without language in a primordial and visual way: often complementing her vocabulary of visual abstraction with sensory experiences that include scent, sound, light and tactility. Combining industrial fabrication and folk craftsmanship, Yang explores the affective power of materials in destabilizing the distinction between the modern and pre-modern. Yang’s unique visual language extends across various media (from paper collage to staged theatre pieces and performative sculptures), and materials (Venetian blinds, clothing racks, synthetic straw, bells and graph paper) that are torn, lacquered, woven, lit and hung. Her artistic explorations stem from material-based concerns, accompanied by philosophical, political and emotionally charged readings of historical events and figures. Her ongoing research is empowered by underlying references to art history, literature and political history, through which she re-interprets some of her recurrent themes: migration, postcolonial diasporas, enforced exile and social mobility. As a result, these pieces link various geopolitical contexts and histories in an attempt to understand and comment on our own time. Yang’s translation from the political and historical into the formal and abstract, demonstrates her conviction that historical narratives can be made comprehensible without being linguistically explanatory or didactic.
Haegue Yang lives and works in Berlin.
haegue yang
mesmerizing votive pagoda lantern – serotinal ultramundane flowers, 2024
birch plywood, wood stain, pvd-coated fully threaded stainless steel bolt, pvd-coated stainless steel and stainless steel components, led bulb, cable, hanji, washi, origami paper, stainless steel wire rope, stainless steel chains, pvd-coated stainless steel bells, split rings, motion sensor
110 x 90 x 90 cm (43 1/4 x 35 3/8 x 35 3/8 in.)
haegue yang
mesmerizing pagoda lantern – luminous monsoon ultramundane flowers, 2024
birch plywood, wood stain, fully threaded stainless steel bolt, stainless steel components, steel wire rope, led bulb, cable, hanji, powder-coated stainless steel and pvd-coated stainless steel bells, split rings, leather cord
95 x 75 x 75 cm (37 3/8 x 29 1/2 x 29 1/2 in.)
haegue yang
mesmerizing votive pagoda lantern – sleety ultramundane flowers, 2024
birch plywood, wood stain, pvd-coated fully threaded stainless steel bolt, pvd-coated stainless steel and stainless steel components, led bulb, cable, hanji, washi, stainless steel wire rope, stainless steel chains, powder-coated stainless steel bells, pvd-coated stainless steel bells, split rings, motion sensor
110 x 90 x 90 cm (43 1/4 x 35 3/8 x 35 3/8 in.)
haegue yang
catrina toothy grin radial folds – mesmerizing mesh #260, 2024
hanji, washi, graph paper on alu-dibond, framed
92 x 122 cm (36 1/4 x 48 in.)
haegue yang
floral-frogs radial folds – mesmerizing mesh #264, 2024
hanji, washi, origami paper, graph paper on alu-dibond, framed
122 x 92 cm (48 x 36 1/4 in.)
haegue yang
frosted scales mermaid queen – mesmerizing mesh #218, 2023
hanji, washi, origami paper on alu-dibond, framed
62 x 62 cm (24 3/8 x 24 3/8 in.)
haegue yang
sonic rotating geometry type f – tricolor #70, 2023
powder-coated stainless steel frame, powder-coated mesh, ball bearing, powder-coated stainless steel bells, stainless steel bells, split rings
112 x 112 x 10 cm (44.09 x 44.09 x 3.94 in.)
haegue yang
sonic rotating whatever openings on hemisphere #15, 2022
powder-coated aluminum frame, powder-coated mesh, ball bearings, nano-coated stainless steel bells, split rings, door knobs
82 x 74 x 43 cm (32.28 x 29.13 x 16.93 in.)
haegue yang
sonic rotating binovular geometric twins – copper and silver #4, 2020
powder-coated aluminum frame, powder-coated mesh, ball bearings, copper plated bells, stainless steel bells, metal rings
100 x 160 x 14 cm (39.37 x 62.99 x 5.51 in.)
haegue yang
swampy mesh sunset, 2019
chipboard, wood varnish, seeds, mesh produce bags, dust, insect, hair
60 x 30 x 2.7 cm (23 5/8 x 11 3/4 x 1 in.)
haegue yang
vegetable fishing – korean onions, 10 kg, 2018
chipboard, wood varnish, seeds, mesh produce bags, dust, insect, hair
125 x 90 x 5.5 cm (49 1/4 x 35 3/8 x 2 1/8 in.)
haegue yang
navel – german cucumbers, 250 g and german potatoes, 1.5 kg, 2018
chipboard, wood varnish, seeds, mesh produce bags, dust, hair
50 x 35 x 2.6 cm (19 3/4 x 13 3/4 x 1 in.)
haegue yang
minuscule polychromatic and orbital rings – trustworthy #333, 2018
set of 2. various security envelopes, graph paper, origami paper and sandpaper on cardboard, framed
29.2 x 29.2 cm (11.5 x 11.5 in.) each
haegue yang
glowing gaze with asymmetric glabella - trustworthy #338, 2018
set of 2. vinyl film, various security envelopes, graph paper, origami paper and sandpaper on cardboard, framed
57.2 x 57.2 cm (22.52 x 22.52 in.)
86.2 x 86.2 cm (33.94 x 33.94 in.)
haegue yang
contiguous prismatic pulsing sparkies – trustworthy #339, 2018
set of 2. vinyl film, various security envelopes, graph paper, origami paper and sandpaper on cardboard, framed
86.2 x 86.2 cm (33.94 x 33.94 in.)
57.2 x 57.2 cm (22.52 x 22.52 in.)
haegue yang
the intermediate – arcane running ornamental ball, 2017
artificial straw, plastic twine, steel stand, powder coating, Indian bells, casters
135 x 115 x 115 cm (53.15 x 45.28 x 45.28 in.)
haegue yang
the intermediate – woolly cave dance, 2017
artificial straw, plastic twine, cotton twine, stainless steel stand, powder coating, artificial plants, pineapple leaf fiber, brooms, korean traditional masks, casters
150 x 123 x 123 cm (59.06 x 48.43 x 48.43 in.)
haegue yang
the intermediate – bristly raggedy nosy, 2016
artificial straw, cotton twine, steel stand, powder coating, artificial fruits, tassels, 3 colors band, korean bridal crowns, casters
176 x 117 x 113 cm (69.29 x 46.06 x 44.49 in.)
haegue yang
non-foldings–cosmic explosion #6, 2012
spray paint on paper, framed
123 x 87.5 cm (48.43 x 34.45 in.) each
haegue yang
non-foldings–cosmic explosion #2, 2012
set of 2. stencil, black and white paper, spray paint
123 x 88 cm (48.43 x 34.65 in.) each
haegue yang
non-foldings–cosmic explosion #10, 2012
spray paint on paper, framed
123.5 x 88 cm. (48.62 x 34.65 in.) each
haegue yang
rainbow out of the water, 2012
clothing rack, casters light bulbs, cable, zip ties, terminal strips, nylon cord, knitting yarn, seashells, metal chains, metal rings, bells, papier-mâché, watercolor, varnish
180 x 102 x 102 cm (70.87 x 40.16 x 40.16 in.)
haegue yang
nosy clown – fungus powered, 2012
clothing rack, casters, light bulbs, cable, rope, cord, aluminum venetian blinds, knitting yarn, clothespins, metal peg, feather duster
200 x 127 x 107 cm (78.74 x 50 x 42.13 in.)
haegue yang
feathered earthy quiver, 2012
clothing rack, casters, light bulbs, cable, cord, knitting yarn, rope, zip ties, metal rings, styrofoam head, styrofoam hands, papier maché, water color, varnish, artificial plants, feathers, whistles, sequins, buoys
197 x 197 x 90 cm (77.56 x 77.56 x 35.43 in.)
installation view of haegue yang: through, dia beacon, new york, 2026. photo: bill jacobson studio. courtesy of the artist
installation view of haegue yang: through, dia beacon, new york, 2026. photo: bill jacobson studio. courtesy of the artist
installation view of haegue yang: through, dia beacon, new york, 2026. photo: bill jacobson studio. courtesy of the artist
installation view of haegue yang: star-crossed rendezvous, museum of contemporary art (moca), los angeles, 2026. photo: zak kelly
installation view of haegue yang: star-crossed rendezvous, museum of contemporary art (moca), los angeles, 2026. photo: zak kelly
installation view of haegue yang: star-crossed rendezvous, museum of contemporary art (moca), los angeles, 2026. photo: zak kelly
installation view of haegue yang: arcane abstractions, kurimanzutto mexico city, 2025. photo: gerardo landa / eduardo lópez (glr estudio)
installation view of haegue yang: arcane abstractions, kurimanzutto mexico city, 2025. photo: gerardo landa / eduardo lópez (glr estudio)
installation view of haegue yang: arcane abstractions, kurimanzutto mexico city, 2025. photo: gerardo landa / eduardo lópez (glr estudio)
installation view of haegue yang in does the flower hear the bee?, the 15th shanghai biennale, power station of art, china, 2025. photo: © haegue yang
installation view of haegue yang in does the flower hear the bee?, the 15th shanghai biennale, power station of art, china, 2025. photo: © haegue yang
installation view of haegue yang in does the flower hear the bee?, the 15th shanghai biennale, power station of art, china, 2025. photo: © haegue yang
installation view of haegue yang: lost lands and sunken fields, nasher sculpture center, texas, 2025. photo: kevin todora
installation view of haegue yang: lost lands and sunken fields, nasher sculpture center, texas, 2025. photo: kevin todora
installation view of haegue yang: lost lands and sunken fields, nasher sculpture center, texas, 2025. photo: kevin todora
installation view of haegue yang: leap year, hayward gallery, london 2024. photo: mark blower
installation view of haegue yang: leap year, hayward gallery, london 2024. photo: mark blower
installation view of haegue yang: leap year, hayward gallery, london 2024. photo: mark blower
installation view of haegue yang: spring sailors – six synecologies aloft in of mountains and seas, lahore biennale, pakistan, 2024. courtesy of lahore biennale foundation
installation view of haegue yang: spring sailors – six synecologies aloft in of mountains and seas, lahore biennale, pakistan, 2024. courtesy of lahore biennale foundation
installation view of haegue yang: spring sailors – six synecologies aloft in of mountains and seas, lahore biennale, pakistan, 2024. courtesy of lahore biennale foundation
installation view of haegue yang: continuous reenactments, ham helsinki art museum, finland, 2023. photo: kirsi halkola
installation view of haegue yang: continuous reenactments, ham helsinki art museum, finland, 2023. photo: kirsi halkola
installation view of haegue yang: continuous reenactments, ham helsinki art museum, finland, 2023. photo: kirsi halkola
installation view of haegue yang: handles, moma, new york, 2019. photo: dawn blackman
installation view of haegue yang: handles, moma, new york, 2019. photo: dawn blackman
installation view of haegue yang: handles, moma, new york, 2019. photo: dawn blackman
installation view of haegue yang: ornament and abstraction, kurimanzutto, mexico city, 2017.
installation view of haegue yang: ornament and abstraction, kurimanzutto, mexico city, 2017.
installation view of haegue yang: ornament and abstraction, kurimanzutto, mexico city, 2017.
installation view of haegue yang: approaching: choreography engineered in never-past tense, documenta 13, kassel, 2012. photo: nils klinger
installation view of haegue yang: approaching: choreography engineered in never-past tense, documenta 13, kassel, 2012. photo: nils klinger
installation view of haegue yang: approaching: choreography engineered in never-past tense, documenta 13, kassel, 2012. photo: nils klinger
Her solo exhibitions include: Through, Dia Beacon, New York (2026); Star-Crossed Rendezvous, MOCA Grand Avenue, Los Angeles (2026); Quasi-Heartland, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Missouri (2025); Arcane Abstractions, kurimanzutto, Mexico City (2025); Lost Lands and Sunken Fields, Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, Texas (2025); Leap Year, Hayward Gallery, London (2024); traveled to Kunsthal Rotterdam, the Netherlands (2025); and Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich, Switzerland (2025); Flat Works, The Arts Club of Chicago (2024); Continuous Reenactments, Helsinki Art Museum (HAM), Finland (2023); Several Reenactments, Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K.), Ghent, Belgium (2023); Quasi-Colloquial, Pinacoteca Contemporânea, Pinacoteca de São Paulo, Brazil (2023); Double Soul, National Gallery of Denmark (SMK), Copenhagen (2022); Strange Attractors, Tate St Ives, United Kingdom (2020); O₂ & H₂O, as part of MMCA Hyundai Motor Series 2020, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), Seoul (2020); The Cone of Concern, Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD), Manila, Philippines (2020); In the Cone of Uncertainty, The Bass, Miami Beach, Florida (2019); Handles, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York (2019); Tracing Movements, South London Gallery, London (2019); Chronotopic Traverses, La Panacée, Montpellier, France (2018); Tightrope Walking and Its Wordless Shadow, organized by Fondazione Furla, La Triennale di Milano (2018); Triple Vita Nestings, Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia (2018); Ornament and Abstraction, kurimanzutto, Mexico City (2017); Silo of Silence – Clicked Core, Centre for Contemporary Art (KINDL), Berlin (2017); Lingering Nous, Centre Pompidou, Paris (2016); An Opaque Wind Park in Six Folds, Serralves Foundation – Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto, Portugal (2016); Shooting the Elephant 象 Thinking the Elephant, Leeum Museum of Art, Seoul (2015); Come Shower or Shine, It Is Equally Blissful, UCCA Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), Beijing (2015); Family of Equivocations, Musée d’Art moderne et contemporain de Strasbourg (MAMCS) and Aubette 1928, France (2013); Honesty Printed on Modesty, STPI Creative Workshop & Gallery, Singapore (2013); Accommodating the Epic Dispersion – On Non-cathartic Volume of Dispersion, as part of Der Öffentlichkeit – Von den Freunden Haus der Kunst, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany (2012); Arrivals, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria (2011); Voice and Wind, New Museum, New York (2010); Symmetric Inequality, Sala Rekalde, Bilbao, Spain (2008); Asymmetric Equality, Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT), Los Angeles (2008), among others.
Haegue Yang has also participated in group exhibitions such as: Himoya: Matrilineal Energies, Oracular Kin, Tselinny Center of Contemporary Culture, Almaty, Kazakhstan (2026); The Light Fantastic, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada (2026); Collection as Cosmos, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, the Netherlands (2026); To Open Eyes, Centre Pompidou Málaga, Spain (2025); MMCA Collection: Korean Contemporary Art, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), Seoul (2025); Reimagining Radical Cities, New Taipei City Art Museum, Taiwan (2025); Inaugural Exhibition, The Campus, Claverack, New York (2024); Undo PLANET: Memory (Im) Material Flow, Art Sonje Center, Seoul (2024); Ring of Fire – Solar Yang & Lunar Weerasethakul, Matabe, Benesse Art Site Naoshima, Japan (two-person exhibition with Apichatpong Weerasethakul) (2024); A Story of a Merchant, kurimanzutto, Mexico City (2023); Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel + kurimanzutto, Casa da Cultura da Comporta, Portugal (2023); WORLD CLASSROOM: Contemporary Art through School Subjects, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2023); TODOS JUNTOS (All Together), kurimanzutto, New York (2022); After all, a collection is only human, organized by Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Villa Vandenbussche, Tielt, Belgium (2021); The Paradox of Stillness: Art, Object, and Performance, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota (2021); Pine’s Eye, Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, United Kingdom (2020); KUNST ⇆ HANDWERK. Zwischen Tradition, Diskurs und Technologien, Kunsthaus Graz, Austria (2019); Forum for Drone Speech – Singapore Simulations, as part of OUTBOUND, National Gallery Singapore (2019); Work, Work, Work, Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia (2019); Give and Take: Highlighting Recent Acquisitions, MOCA Grand Avenue, Los Angeles (2018); Beyond the Box. Sammlung Dohmen, Leopold-Hoesch-Museum, Düren, Germany (2018), among others.
Her work has also been included in the following biennials and triennials: Does the flower hear the bee?, 15th Shanghai Biennale, China (2025); Of Mountains and Seas, Lahore Biennale 03, Pakistan (2024); The Malady of Death – Monodrama with Noma Dumezweni, Performa 2023 Biennial, Peter B. Lewis Theater, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2023); The Open World, Thailand Biennale 2023, Chiang Rai (2023); In Our Veins Flow Ink and Fire, Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2022–23, India (2022); Natasha, Singapore Biennale 2022 (2022); The Seventh Continent, 16. Istanbul Bienali (2019); Superposition: Equilibrium & Engagement, 21st Biennale of Sydney, Australia (2018); Beautiful world, where are you?, 10th Liverpool Biennial, United Kingdom (2018); La vie moderne, 13e Biennale de Lyon, France (2015); The past, the present, the possible, Sharjah Biennial 12, United Arab Emirates (2015); 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT8), Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), Australia (2015); The Great Acceleration, Taipei Biennial 2014, Taiwan (2014); dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, Germany (2012); 10,000 Lives, 8th Gwangju Biennale, South Korea (2010); Making Worlds, 53rd International Art Exhibition at the Venice Biennale (2009); Condensation, Korean Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale (2009); Farewell to Post-Colonialism, 3rd Guangzhou Triennial, China (2008); Life on Mars, 55th Carnegie International, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (2008); Prague Biennale 3, Czech Republic (2007); Como viver junto, 27ª Bienal de São Paulo, Brazil (2006); Chasm, Busan Biennale 2004, South Korea (2004); 5th Gwangju Biennale, South Korea (2004); P_A_U_S_E, 4th Gwangju Biennale, South Korea (2002); Manifesta 4, The European Biennial of Contemporary Art, Frankfurt, Germany (2002); Escape, 1st edition of the T.I.C.A.B – Tirana International Contemporary Art Biannual, Albania (2001).
read the full article on south china morning post
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smk national gallery of denmark presents haegue yang double soul
Read the full review on Dubai's long-awaited Expo 2020 artist line-up, including Haegue Yang, at the art newspaper.
Read the full review on Haegue Yang's reflection over Sophie Taeuber-Arp's Art Legacy in Wallpaper Magazine.
Jimmie Durham & Haegue Yang talk in an all in-conversation exclusively for kurimanzutto's Art Basel: Pioneers Online Viewing Room.
Haegue Yang selects a number of works by the artist, poet, author, essayist and political activist, Jimmie Durham.
Jimmie Durham & Haegue Yang participate in Tate Modern's Room 6 and 9 Displays: Materials and Objects.
kurimanzutto is proud to participate in Art Basel OVR: Miami Beach 2020 featuring a selection of works by: Gabriel Orozco, Nairy Baghramian, Haegue Yang, Jimmie Durham, Damián Ortega, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Carlos Amorales, Roberto Gil de Montes, Wilfredo Prieto, Miguel Calderón.
Haegue Yang and Nairy Baghramian take part in The Clark Institute's first outdoor exhibition of site-specific comissioned works.
The Cone of Concern at the MCAD centers around the idea of the ‘tropical depression’, a weather disturbance characterized by strong winds that take place mostly in the region of the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean.
In MMCA Hyundai Motor Series 2020: Haegue Yang - O2 & H2O, the artist attempts another leap toward "the abstraction of reality."
The Willfulness of Objects presents a selection of works from The Bass’ collection, many newly acquired, by artists who utilize found, altered, recycled, or transformed everyday objects as their materials to explore facets of human nature, history, and the surrounding environment.
The artist discusses her work, identity, and the inspiration behind her new commission, Handles, with curator Stuart Comer.
Read full article about Haegue Yang's exhibition In the Cone of Uncertainty at The Bass Museum of Art, Miami.
Read about Haegue Yang's work and her reflections on solitude and belonging.
The Istanbul Biennial has served as a dynamic plane of interaction, a meeting point, and a critical site for the development of new aesthetic and political visions.
In the Cone of Uncertainty foregrounds Haegue Yang’s (b. 1971, Seoul) consistent curiosity about the world and tireless experimentation with materializing the complexity of identities in flux.
Handles, Yang's installation comissioned for MOMA's Marron Atrium, features six sculptures that are activated daily, dazzling geometries and the play of light and sound, to create a ritualized and complex environment with both personal and political resonance.
The exhibition is part of a long-term collaboration between the two institutions and the institutional exchange will see another exhibition at Para Site, Hong Kong in September 2020.
On the walls, large-scale works from Yang’s Trustworthies series (ongoing since 2011) are shown alongside new Hardware Store Collages (2012- ) and Lacquer Paintings (1994- ), creating a visual dialogue between familiar household objects and abstraction.
This publication is printed on the occasion of Haegue Yang’s solo exhibition of the same title at La Panacée – MoCo in Montpellier. Chronotopic Traverses brings together unexpected arrangements of Yang’s versatile sculptures of various materials against a backdrop of a panoramic and dramatic wallpaper titled Incubation and Exhaustion (2018, in collaboration with Manuel Raeder).
Haegue Yang receives the Republic of Korea Culture and Arts Award (Presidential Commendation) in the visual arts sector by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister Do Jonghwan). This year, the MCST announced a total of 31 recipients for the Citation of the Person for Merit, the Development of Culture and the Arts in 2018, which is classified into three divisions: the Order of Cultural Merit, the Culture Award and the Arts of the Republic of Korea and today's Young Artist Award. Yang has been awarded the Republic of Korea Culture and Arts Award, awarded to an outstanding person in each of the following five sectors: general culture, literature, visual arts, music, and theater / dance.
This exhibtion it points to her deep engagement with the unspoken: the urge to create a language as subtle and delicate as a tightrope walk, where movement becomes powerfully dynamic and charged with both emotional and perceptual tension.
Yang’s practice spans a wide range of media, from paper collage to performative sculpture and large-scale multi-sensorial installation, often featuring everyday objects, in addition to labour-intensive woven sculptures.
Works from the museum’s holdings of international contemporary art are brought into oftentimes surprising and unconventional situations of dialogue: Sigmar Polke/Haegue Yang, Maria Lassnig/Georg Baselitz, Neo Rauch/Tony Cragg, Georg Baselitz/Mike Kelley, Vajiko Chachkhiani/Peter Doig among others.
Triple Vita Nestings uses formal strategies—such as layering, doubling, splitting, and merging— to reveal how individual subjects are embedded in the lives, stories, and contexts of others.
The exhibition will begin with Yang’s first venetian blind installation from her 2006 Series of Vulnerable Arrangements - the 2006 Version Utrecht, an immersive and sensorial experience unfolding from a composition of various materials and the simultaneous use of wind, scents, light, and heat. Within this arrangement, video essays document the artist’s travels through cities around the world and convey feelings of home, isolation, and dislocation associated with her itineracy in quite personal commentaries.
SUPERPOSITION: Equilibrium and Engagement will examine the state of ‘superposition’ by examining how it might operate in the world today. We are surrounded by conflicting ideas across all levels of humanity: different cultures; readings of nature and the universe; political ideologies and systems of government; interpretations of human history, the history of art and definitions of contemporary art.
Haegue Yang’s mobile sculptures, Dress Vehicles, are displayed in the Tanks. The wheeled structures are constructed from aluminium frames, blinds and intricate knotted textile macramé. They have been given titles Bulky Lacoste Birdy, Zig Zag and Yin Yang and are inspired by the choreographed geometry of Bauhaus artist Oskar Schlemmer’s Triadisches Ballett 1922.
