Haegue Yang: Community of Absence

Haegue Yang, born in 1971 in Seoul, is the daughter of Korean resistance fighters against the dictatorship that ended in South Korea in the 1980s. She studied art at Seoul National University and later at the Städelschule in Frankfurt in the late 1990s. Yang now lives and works between her studios in Berlin and Seoul. Her work often explores themes of absence, displacement, and memory, using everyday materials like venetian blinds, bells, and lights to create immersive installations. The article in artpress n°437 (October 2016) examines her practice, focusing on how she constructs a 'community of absence' through her art, referencing her Korean heritage and diasporic experience. Key works discussed include her series of 'Lingering' and 'Sonic' sculptures, which combine abstract forms with sensory elements. The text highlights her 2016 exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and her participation in major international exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale and Documenta. Yang's work is noted for its political undertones, subtly addressing issues of migration, identity, and historical trauma without overt didacticism.