Installation view of 'The Hybrid Intermediates – Flourishing Electrophorus Duo (The Sonic Intermediate – Hairy Carbonous Dweller and The Randing Intermediate – Furless Uncolored Dweller)' (2022) at the 13 th Singapore Biennale Natasha. (October 16, 2022 – March 19, 2023) Courtesy of the Singapore Biennale.
World-renowned Korean contemporary artist Haegue Yang continues to propel Korean contemporary art onto the international stage and develop the South Korean art scene through various artistic activities at home and abroad. Yang is the first Korean artist to receive the Singapore Biennale’s Benesse Prize.
Benesse Holdings, a Japanese educational company, established the Benesse Prize in 1995. The award is now given to artists participating in the Singapore Biennale in collaboration with the Singapore Art Museum.
The 13th Singapore Biennale, co-directed by Binna Choi, Nida Ghouse, Ala Younis, and June Yap, features more than 100 works by over 50 international and local artists under the exhibition title Natasha.
Haegue Yang, who was one of five nominees, won the award for The Hybrid Intermediates – Flourishing Electrophorus Duo (The Sonic Intermediate – Hairy Carbonous Dweller and The Randing Intermediate – Furless Uncolored Dweller) (2022), created for the biennale.
The two man-sized works have handles on their waists, colorful plastic vegetables on top of their heads, and a body made up of electrical outlets. The two pieces look alike, but one is covered with bells resembling those used in religious ceremonies, while the other is coated with rattan. By presenting a sculpture work that combines different objects, Yang discusses the situation before and after the pandemic, as well as the limits of human perception. This relates to the theme of this year’s Singapore Biennale, which focuses on re-discovering ways of seeing and relating to the world.
Haegue Yang’s works are renowned for their incorporation of personal experiences and in-depth analyses of historical, social, and cultural contexts. She transforms various stories into abstract and synesthetic experiences by incorporating sensory elements with objects such as blinds, drying racks, and bells.
Haegue Yang, Photo by Cheongjin Keem. Courtesy of the SMK.Haegue Yang, who is based in Korea and Germany, has been presented on international stages, such as the Venice Biennale Korean Pavilion (2009) and the Kassel documents (2012). She has held solo exhibitions at a number of prominent art museums, including the Museum of Modern Art (Ontario, 2020), the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (Seoul, 2019), and the Museum of Modern Art (New York, 2019), the Center Pompidou in (Paris, 2016), and the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art (Beijing, 2015). Her works are included in the collections of major art museums such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Center Pompidou in France, and Tate Modern in England.
