Haegue Yang has lived a rich life educated within a mix of different cultural backgrounds, in the 90s she moved to Germany where she pursued her education in arts at Städelschule in Frankfurt.Later on she moved to New York city as a complementary cultural exchange to finish her masters. Today she lives in Berlin. Rose to fame in the South Korean Visual Arts Sector in 2018 acquiring the Republic of Korea Cultural and Art Award, she’s a rather prolific contemporary artist with over thousands of art pieces exhibited.

Installation view of Haegue Yang: Leap Year, 2024. Photo: Mark Blower. Courtesy the artist and the Hayward Gallery.

The first main room holds in the wall a series of nine plain-looking photographs of sitting tables traditionally found outdoors in Korean neighborhoods, the so-called ‘sitting tables’ are the subject of Social Conditions of the Sitting Table. In this work, a text placed next to it speaks of how this street furniture provides spaces for encounters between strangers, which are rapidly disappearing in present-day Seoul. Yang’s recent work investigates the relationship between matter and spirituality. Working with Mulberry paper, Yang explores the use of this material in ancient belief systems and practices. In her series of collages, Mesmerizing Mesh (2021-), the artwork references sacred and ritualistic paper objects related to shamanism and folk or pagan traditions, while The Intermediates (2015-) features hybrid ‘creature-like’ sculptures made from artificial straw that draws from global weaving techniques.

Installation view of Haegue Yang: Leap Year, 2024. Photo: Mark Blower. Courtesy the artist and the Hayward Gallery.

On the top floor, Yang’s video works are projected on screens as well as on white aluminum blinds, which also serve to divide the serene expanse of the Hayward Gallery. Video Trilogy (2004-2006) spans over thirty minutes of footage shot in cities like Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Seoul, and Berlin, while Squandering Negative Spaces (Video Trilogy III), filmed in 2006, captures scenes from Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Yang seldom creates video pieces, doing so only when a narrative cannot be fully expressed through sculpture. Between 2004 and 2006, she made a daily habit of filming urban scenes on a handheld camera while traveling through various cities. These videos blend everyday street imagery with audio reflections on Yang’s thoughts and experiences, exploring themes of displacement, belonging, and the search for identity in a globalized world, consistent with her broader artistic focus. In addition, there are a couple of pieces extending outside including a infinity-pool-like with a series of tiny metallic pinwheels with a panoramic view of the north side of the river.

Installation view of Haegue Yang: Leap Year, 2024. Photo: Mark Blower. Courtesy the artist and the Hayward Gallery.

A standout piece is The Way to Sadong 30, a video installation projected on aluminum blinds. Filmed in 2024 on her phone, the work follows Yang’s hour-long journey from her home in Seoul to the Sa-dong house in Incheon. Titled after the house’s address, this project marked her first solo show in South Korea and a significant artistic breakthrough. Upon arrival, Yang found the house obscured by new construction fencing, an unexpected scene that echoes her recurring themes of “communities of absence,” displacement, and the fading presence of shared spaces.

Senior Curator of the Hayward Gallery, Yung Ma, says: “Haegue Yang has consistently sought to expand our perception of what it means to be culturally fluid or socio-politically engaged artistically, creating series after series of works that are at once sensual, expressive and captivating. Leap Year strives to be a true reflection of Yang’s vision, weaving together disparate threads that juxtapose histories of recent and ancient pasts with personal experiences and the contemporary condition to give visitors a deeply sensitive, engaging and enthralling experience.”

Haegue Yang: Leap Year
Date: 9th October 2024 – 5th January 2025
Opening Hours: 10:00-18:00 (Closed on Monday)
Place: Hayward Gallery
Address: Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX
Tel: +44 (0)20 7452 3961
https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk