Installation view of Yang Hae-gue’s “Sonic Dress Vehicle —
Hulky Head” at the Triennale di Milano in Italy in 2018 / Courtesy of Fondazione Furla, Triennale di Milano
By Park Han-sol
This fall, a string of major solo exhibitions highlighting both established and emerging Korean artists are slated to open across Europe, particularly in the United Kingdom, to coincide with the Frieze London art fair.
Kicking off on Oct. 9 at the Hayward Gallery is “Leap Year,” the first U.K. survey of the internationally celebrated Yang Hae-gue.
Led by the gallery’s senior curator Yung Ma, the large-scale show spotlights Yang’s multisensory practice that has evolved since the early 2000s. More than 120 installations and sculptures on display include her most representative series: “Sonic Sculptures,” “The Intermediates,” “Mesmerizing Mesh” and “Light Sculptures.”
In addition to new commissions, the exhibition will revisit one of her early independently organized projects, “Sadong 30,” 18 years after its inception. Originally set in an abandoned home in Incheon, this work is considered a major turning point in Yang’s globetrotting artistic trajectory.
The 53-year-old’s works often transform everyday objects — drying racks, Venetian blinds, light bulbs, nylon pom-poms and “hanji” (traditional Korean paper) — into curious-looking installations. The craft techniques and materials she employs are known to forge unseen connections between disparate histories, cultural traditions and folklore.
Installation view of Lee Mi-re’s “Landscape with Many Holes: Skins of Yeong-do Sea” (2022) on Busan’s Yeongdo Island at the 2022 Busan Biennale / Courtesy of Busan Biennale Organizing Committee
Unveiling in London the same week as Yang’s survey is rising art star Lee Mi-re’s presentation at the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall for this year’s Hyundai Commission.
The museum’s expansive hall, standing 35 meters high and 155 meters long, has annually hosted monumental, site-specific installations by contemporary icons — such as Louise Bourgeois’ gigantic bronze spider, Olafur Eliasson’s artificial rising sun and Ai Weiwei’s 100 million porcelain sunflower seeds — in partnership with Hyundai Motor.
At 36, Lee has gained recognition for her motor-powered kinetic sculptures, often immersed in viscous liquid, resembling deformed bodies or twisted, oozing guts. Her animatronic installations have made their way into the 2022 Venice Biennale’s main International Art Exhibition and the New Museum in New York in 2023. The upcoming Tate Modern show will mark her debut in the U.K.
The 2024 Serpentine Pavilion, “Archipelagic Void,” designed by Korean architect Cho Min-suk in London’s Kensington Gardens / Yonhap
Meanwhile, the 2024 Serpentine Pavilion, “Archipelagic Void,” designed by Seoul-based architect Cho Min-suk, has been gracing London’s Kensington Gardens as a pentagonal star-shaped structure since June.
Opened until Oct. 27, the Pavilion consists of five “islands,” each housing a gallery, play tower, tea house, library and auditorium. The central empty space recalls the “madang,” an open courtyard in a traditional Korean house.
Since 2000, the Serpentine Galleries have commissioned architects and artists from around the world to conceive a temporary summer pavilion. The project has previously invited prominent names like Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid and Herzog & de Meuron. Cho, who was awarded the Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale, is the first Korean architect to be tapped for this prestigious commission.
Two European blue-chip dealers are also gearing up to host the first solo exhibits of emerging Korean talents who have recently joined their rosters.
Thaddaeus Ropac will feature Chung Hee-min in the gallery’s London outpost in November.
“Exploring how digital images can metamorphose in painting and sculpture in intricate and exquisite ways, her work investigates the role of technology in society and how it has shaped contemporary approaches to art,” Ropac said in a statement.
In September in Berlin, Esther Schipper is set to present the works of Jeon Hyun-sun, the first Korean creative to be represented by the German dealer. Jeon’s watercolors employ a Korean chromatic palette of greens, blacks and blues to bring simplified geometric landscapes to life.
