Solo Exhibitions (Brief)

Haegue Yang began her international career with her solo exhibition 《Lacquer Paintings 2000》 at Galerie Barbara Wien in Berlin. In 2004, she introduced 《Storage Piece》 at Gallery Lawrence O’Hana in London, a work that critically reflected on the condition of an artist in transit and the systems of exhibition and value in contemporary art. The piece, composed of older works packed and stacked on shipping pallets, became a seminal installation that was later exhibited in several cities across Europe and South America. In 2006, she transformed her late grandmother’s vacant house in Incheon into the exhibition 《Samlip 30beonji》, creating a highly personal and sensorial spatial installation that resonated deeply with Korean audiences.

In 2009, Yang was selected as the representative artist for the Korean Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale, presenting 《Condensation》, which marked a significant turning point in her international recognition. That same year, she held a major solo exhibition, 《Integrity of the Insider》, at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, further cementing her status in the U.S. art scene. In 2010, she presented 《Voice Over Three》 at Art Sonje Center in Seoul and 《Voice and Wind》 at the New Museum in New York, both of which explored the multisensory and spatial dimensions of installation.

In 2015, her solo shows 《Shooting the Elephant, Thinking the Elephant》 at Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art in Seoul, and 《Come Shower or Shine, It Is Equally Blissful》 at Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing showcased her capacity to weave conceptual depth with cultural specificity. The following year, she held 《Lingering Nous》 at Centre Pompidou in Paris, an exhibition that reinforced her critical acclaim in Europe. Throughout 2016, she continued the 《Quasi-Pagan》 series across major institutions including Serralves Museum in Porto, Hamburger Kunsthalle in Hamburg, Galeries Lafayette in Paris, and Greene Naftali in New York.

From 2019 to 2021, Yang’s landmark solo exhibition 《Handles》 at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York presented an immersive and expansive exploration of her signature sculptural and sound-based works. In 2023, she mounted solo exhibitions at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, S.M.A.K. in Ghent, and Pinacoteca de São Paulo. In 2024, she continues this trajectory with a solo show focusing on her two-dimensional works at the Art Club of Chicago, followed by a large-scale survey exhibition at Hayward Gallery in London featuring over 120 works.

Group Exhibitions (Brief)

Haegue Yang began actively participating in international group exhibitions in the early 2000s, including 《The Living Archive》 at the 2002 Gwangju Biennale and Air and Water in Frankfurt. In 2005, her participation in 《Lichtkunst aus Kunstlicht》 at ZKM in Karlsruhe marked her growing recognition for experimental installation using artificial light. By 2007, she was participating in significant exhibitions such as 《Brave New Worlds》 at Walker Art Center and Made in Germany in Hanover, expanding her presence across the U.S. and Europe.

In 2008 and 2009, Yang joined large-scale group exhibitions including the 3rd Guangzhou Triennial, the Carnegie International, and the Venice Biennale’s main exhibition 《Making Worlds》. Her inclusion in 《Your Bright Future: 12 Contemporary Artists from Korea》 (2009–10), which toured major U.S. museums like LACMA and MFAH, further amplified her global profile.

Throughout the 2010s, she was consistently invited to major international biennales and triennales, including 《Maninbo》 at the 8th Gwangju Biennale (2010), dOCUMENTA 13 in Kassel (2012), the 12th Sharjah Biennial (2015), the Taipei Biennial (2014), and the Lyon Biennale (2015). Notably, her works were also featured in thematic exhibitions such as 《Storylines at the Guggenheim Museum (2015), 《Scenes for a New Heritage》 at MoMA (2015), and After Babel at Moderna Museet in Stockholm.

In recent years, Yang has participated in exhibitions like 《Lesson Ø》 at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Korea (2017), 《Looks Good on Paper》 at STPI in Singapore (2016), 《Mobile M+: Live Art》 in Hong Kong (2015), and 《New Décor》 at Hayward Gallery (2010), affirming her presence in Asia and reinforcing her position as a major voice in global contemporary art.

Awards (Selected)

Haegue Yang received early international recognition in 2007 when she was awarded the Baloise Art Prize following her participation in Art Basel’s Statements sector. This milestone led to a solo presentation at the Kunsthalle Hamburg the same year. In 2018, she became the first Asian female artist to receive the prestigious Wolfgang Hahn Prize from the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, a historic acknowledgment of her contributions to contemporary art in Europe. In 2022, she was awarded the Benesse Prize, becoming the first Korean artist to receive the honor, which further underscored her international significance.

Residencies (Selected)

Yang’s practice has been deeply informed by her involvement in various artist residencies around the world. In 2003, during a residency in London, she created Storage Piece, a work that encapsulated her transient status and logistical constraints as a nomadic artist. Since then, she has participated in programs in Germany, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Argentina, China, and the United States. Notably, her time at Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart and Siemens Art Program in Munich provided critical opportunities to reflect on the relationship between institutional systems and artistic autonomy. Her work is shaped not by rootedness but by continuous engagement with different contexts, making her a quintessential "nomadic" artist in both thought and practice.

Collections (Selected)

Haegue Yang’s works are held in the collections of leading museums worldwide. In the United States, her work is part of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. In Europe, her works are housed in the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst in Leipzig, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, Serralves Museum in Porto, and the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź, among others.

In Asia, her works are included in the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Korea), Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA), Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, and the AmorePacific Museum of Art in Korea. Her work is also part of the M+ Museum collection in Hong Kong and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. In addition, private and nonprofit collections such as Sammlung Haubrok and Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (Berlin) have collected her works. These holdings reflect the wide resonance and institutional recognition of Yang’s practice across geographies and cultures.

Originality & Identity

Haegue Yang is a leading contemporary artist whose practice weaves together philosophical reflection and conceptual depth around themes of space-time, boundaries, folklore, and sensory perception. Traversing Europe and Asia both physically and intellectually, she has developed a distinctive artistic identity that defies geographical and cultural fixity. Her nomadic nature is not merely a matter of physical relocation but manifests as an epistemological stance—living as an individual who actively mediates between singularity and community. Rather than simply illustrating or interpreting identity, society, and collectivity, her work provokes a sensorial and speculative engagement with these contemporary issues.

Style & Contents

Yang's practice spans an expansive range of media, including collage, video, sculpture, performance, and installation. Her renowned ‘Series of Vulnerable Arrangements’ explores the tension between separation and cohesion, using Venetian blinds as both physical and conceptual devices to create semi-permeable boundaries. Through everyday and folkloric materials—such as blinds, straw, artificial plants, bells, and appliances—she creates multisensory environments that activate perception and bodily awareness. Her ‘Sonic Sculptures’ investigate the interaction between movement and sound, with bells serving as both sensory triggers and metaphors for the intersection of civilization and craft. Meanwhile, her ‘Sol LeWitt Upside Down’ series recontextualizes minimalist structures with humorous inversions, offering a critical commentary on Western art history while liberating herself from the burdens of originality through reinterpretation.

Topography & Continuity

Yang’s work can be viewed as a continuous exploration of layered temporalities and geographies—navigating between the past and the future, the personal and the communal. From early works like Storage Piece to Samlip 30beonji, her installations are rooted in memory, displacement, and spatial transformation. Later projects such as the ‘Intermediate Types’ series and immersive installations like Incubation and Exhaustion deepen this trajectory, incorporating synthetic straw, artificial scents, humidity, and temperature to construct spaces of historical and cultural entanglement. Her resistance to categorization and deliberate marginality enable her to challenge institutional frameworks, using exhibition formats themselves as critical material. Yang continues to build complex constellations that transcend fixed narratives—offering a dynamic practice of mediation between difference and resonance.