Haegue Yang

Haegue Yang (Korean: 양혜규; born December 12, 1971) is a South Korean artist primarily working in sculpture and installation. After receiving her B.F.A from Seoul National University in 1994, Yang received an M.A. from Städelschule where she now teaches as a professor of Fine Arts. She currently lives and works in Berlin and Seoul. With the statement “I believe that out of the alienation one can mobilize the unusual strength to sympathize with the others,” Yang seeks to embrace vulnerability, thus exploring themes that may include “individual and national identity, displacement, isolation, and community,” while also avoiding “tying herself to one [identity] based on gender, race or geography.” By using disparate household objects, including yarn, light fixtures, and fans, into alternative configurations, Yang explores meanings for these objects outside of their typical functional uses. Some of her installations incorporate venetian blinds that filter the light in the gallery, and segment the space, creating multiple viewpoints. Some installation incorporate bells, moving theater lights, and scent diffusers to engage multiple senses of the viewer's perception. She also creates mural-like graphic wall pieces, that function as dramatic, immersive scenery. Yang draws from a array of references, including her own biography, historical events, film, and literature, to create installations like Sadong 30 (2006) and performances like The Malady of Death (2010-ongoing). Some interior works include moving sculptures such as Dress Vehicles (2012), as well as outdoor works like Migratory DMZ Birds on Asymmetric Lens (2020). Overall, she considers her work as a "communicative way of sharing life," by allowing viewers to "imagine events with others." In 2018 a catalogue raisonné of over 1,400 works was published in conjunction with her solo show "ETA" at Museum Ludwig. In the same year she received the Republic of Korea Cultural and Art Award (Presidential Citation). Her work...