Haegue Yang: Arcane Abstractions
February 1, 2025 – April 5, 2025
kurimanzutto, Mexico City, Mexico
Installation view of Haegue Yang: Arcane Abstractions, kurimanzutto, Mexico City, Mexico
Photo: Gerardo Landa / Eduardo López (GLR Estudio)
Press Release (ENG)
kurimanzutto is proud to present Haegue Yang’s second solo
exhibition in Mexico City, Arcane Abstractions, featuring
works that present a continuation of her deep engagement
with abstraction on her own terms. The exhibition brings
together diverse bodies of work alongside an archival display
with pieces made by Mexican artisans and references to local
materials closely tied to the works on view.
Structured as a ritualistic passage, the exhibition’s
layout uses the architectural axes of the gallery to create
symmetrical arrangements of the works. Central pieces
include Mexican-crafted interpretations of the Japanese
sacred straw rope shimenawa and the Slavic pagan harvest
celebratory object didukh, both of which were produced in
collaboration with local artisans using traditional methods and
Mexican materials. Freeing up the gallery floor, Arcane Abstractions features most of the exhibited elements in
suspended form: hanging wooden display for flat works,
archival materials, and paired sculptural works. Fog is emitted
from two corners of the gallery, gradually filling up the space
and dissipating over time to reveal the bare floor.
Mesmerizing Votive Pagoda Lanterns are extravagantly
adorned with paper flowers and colored light, while other
paired motorized blind works hypnotizingly rotate in space.
The woven ceremonial structures are each inspired by
Japanese shimenawa and the Korean geumjul, ropes which are
traditionally used to mark sacred sites or objects. These ropes
have been reimagined using natural fibers, such as chuspata (or
tule) sourced and woven by Mexican craftsmen in the state of
Michoacán. Similarly, material hybridity is manifested in the
reinterpretation of didukh (a Ukrainian ceremonial object
made of woven wheat stalks) and wieńce dożynkowe (a Slavic
decorative garland used in traditional harvest festivals). The
Artisanías P’anhikua workshop run by the Cornelio family in
Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán, adapted these Eastern European
forms using the traditional weaving of p’anhikua (or wheat
straw). These cross-cultural interpretations highlight both
Yang’s ongoing engagement with the transmission of cultural
heritage as well as a keen desire to insert contemporary
hybridity through collaboration. At the core of these concerns
lies the traditional Korean garden concept of ‘borrowed
landscape,’ which is not about ownership, but an appreciation
of nature and the environment.
In addition to Yang’s Mesmerizing Mesh, a series of
works made with mulberry paper, another focal point of the
exhibition is an archival presentation of documents, objects,
and publications related to ritualistic paper traditions. Drawing
on her research and field trips, Yang explores the paper-cutting
techniques of various cultural practices, including Korean hanji,
Polish wycinanki, Philippine pabalat, Otomi amate, and Mexican papel picado. The selection of Mesmerizing Mesh in Arcane Abstractions demonstrates her most recent development in
abstract compositions emerging from an interweaving of
traditional visual elements drawn from Mexican, Chinese,
Korean, Japanese, Punjabi, and Hmong cultures.
Arcane Abstractions reflects Yang’s sustained inquiry
into cultural heritage, material exploration, and ritualistic
symbolism, seeking to foster a genuine dialogue toward fluidity
without losing one’s vernacular, tribal, and civilizational
perspective. Yang puts forward a proposal to live our lives
today with a holistic view of mobility and technology, respect
for spirituality, as well as contemplation on the resilient
adaptability of both nature and humans. In so doing, she offers
viewers an opportunity to engage with a layered and symbolic
interplay of tradition and contemporary art.
An integral part of Yang’s exhibition is the
accompanying publication Mesmerizing Mesh – Power Paper,
which will document her exploration of the ritualistic use of
paper. Including a notable essay by Marta Turok, Power Paper serves as an introduction to paper’s role within vernacular
craftsmanship and ritualistic traditions drawn from indigenous
life, folk culture, and shamanism.
≪양혜규: 영묘한 추상≫
2025년 2월 8일 – 4월 5일
쿠리만주토, 멕시코 시티
현대미술가 양혜규가 오는 2월 쿠리만주토(멕시코 시티)에서 개인전 ≪양혜규: 영묘한 추상≫을 선보인다.
이번 전시는 작품과 다양한 자료들의 대칭적인 배치로 구조적으로 영적 통로를 연상시킨다. 한편, 각 작품은 작가가 지속적으로 탐구해온 범지구적 전통과 민속적, 토착적 공예 기술에 대한 관심을 반영하며, 다양한 문화적 배경에서 기원한 재료와 기술을 바탕으로 제작되어 다채롭고 혼종적hybrid이다. 전시의 중심에는 전통적으로 여러 문화권에서 발견되는 제의적 밧줄과 오브제를 새롭게 해석한 작품이 자리하고 있다. 이는 일본의 시메나와, 한국의 금줄, 슬라브 지역의 추수 기념 오브제인 디둑 등을 멕시코 공예 기법으로 재해석한 것이다.
또한 이번 전시에서는 작가의 종이 전통에 대한 지속적인 탐구를 바탕으로 탄생한 <황홀망> 연작이 주요 작품으로 소개된다. 현장 답사로 얻은 통찰력과 역사적 자료를 기반으로 준비된 이번 전시는 토착 전통의 강인한 생명력과 적응력을 풍부하고 다층적인 관점으로 보여준다.
Exhibited works
La Cuerda de Cuatro Colores, 2025
Popotillo Eslavo Amarillo, 2025
Popotillo Eslavo Verde, 2025
Seven Dircksenstraße Moisture, 2022
Ximenawa, 2025