Haegue Yang’s Leap Year, currently on view in the UK, offers an expansive and thought-provoking journey through the artist’s diverse body of work. The exhibition bridges Yang’s cultural roots with modern-day aesthetics from her early career in the 2000s to her latest creations. At first glance, her works may appear as a jumble of everyday objects—light bulbs, drying racks, and bells—but these familiar elements are imbued with historical, cultural, and spiritual resonance, resulting in multilayered works that draw on East Asian traditions, contemporary art history, and beyond. This careful blend of humble materials with lofty ideas positions Yang as a crucial voice in the ongoing conversation between craft, tradition, and modernity.
One of the exhibition’s most striking aspects is how Yang’s installations challenge the viewer’s sensory boundaries. Her Sonic Sculptures invite audiences to observe and engage with sound, tactility, and light, creating an immersive environment that transcends visual experience alone. These sculptural works, often incorporating bells or other sound-making objects, echo the labor-intensive practices of their making while reflecting broader themes of displacement and migration. Yang’s sensorial approach fosters an encounter with deeply personal art, while the underlying references to global issues highlight the political undercurrents of her practice.
In Leap Year, Yang’s mastery of material and metaphor is perhaps most evident in her new commissions, which blend industrial objects with handcrafts, forming an intersection between past and present, the personal and the political. For instance, her use of hanji, traditional Korean paper, alongside modern objects, demonstrates a keen awareness of the evolving relationship between tradition and globalization. These new works expand upon her ongoing interest in the intersection of labor and cultural identity, using the tactile qualities of her materials to evoke histories of migration and transformation. The result is a compelling tension between fragility and strength, encapsulated in the delicate balance of her installations.
Ultimately, Yang’s Leap Year is a triumph in blending the sensory with the intellectual, challenging viewers to engage on multiple levels. The exhibition situates Yang’s work as a personal exploration of identity and a broader reflection on global issues of labor, displacement, and cultural heritage. By utilizing various media—sculpture, collage, sound, and more—Yang creates an artistic language deeply rooted in tradition and strikingly contemporary. This survey underscores her ability to transcend boundaries in terms of geography and medium, making Leap Year a must-see for those seeking an art experience that is as intellectually stimulating as it is sensorially rich.
Haegue Yang: Leap Year
October 9, 2024 – January 5, 2025
