February 2026
Haegue Yang’s First Large-Scale Survey Exhibition in Switzerland, Leap Year, Concludes at Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst
Haegue Yang’s first major survey exhibition in Switzerland, Haegue Yang: Leap Year, was on view at Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst in Zurich. Curated by the Hayward Gallery in London, UK, and presented subsequently at the Kunsthal Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the exhibition marked the final chapter of its tour, offering a comprehensive overview of Yang’s artistic inquiry spanning more than three decades.
Structured around key conceptual threads that run throughout Yang’s practice—Spiritual Quotidian, Quasi-Performativity, and Singular-Plural—the exhibition foregrounded her distinctive artistic vocabulary. This idiosyncratic conceptual framework is exemplified in Non-Indépliables, nues (2010/2020), in which empty drying racks are transformed into expressive anthropomorphic sculptures, evoking the repetitive rituals of folding and unfolding in ordinary life while hinting at the profundity of “bare” life. On the ground floor, blue-painted walls formed part of Quasi-Yves Klein Blue (2025). The work is an homage to Yves Klein (1928–1962), for which the museum team selected the color closest to his iconic “International Klein Blue” (IKB). By replacing the licensed pigment with locally available paint, the work raises questions about artistic legacy, authenticity, and institutional power dynamics.
Drawing from diverse cultural traditions, including Korean vernacular practices as well as modernist legacies, Yang has constructed environments that are at once sensorial and conceptual. Through materials, rituals, and spatial configurations, the exhibition reflected and embodied the fluidity of contemporary life and offered viewers a layered and contemplative experience. With its presentation in Zurich, Haegue Yang: Leap Year concluded a sixteen-month tour across three European countries.
Structured around key conceptual threads that run throughout Yang’s practice—Spiritual Quotidian, Quasi-Performativity, and Singular-Plural—the exhibition foregrounded her distinctive artistic vocabulary. This idiosyncratic conceptual framework is exemplified in Non-Indépliables, nues (2010/2020), in which empty drying racks are transformed into expressive anthropomorphic sculptures, evoking the repetitive rituals of folding and unfolding in ordinary life while hinting at the profundity of “bare” life. On the ground floor, blue-painted walls formed part of Quasi-Yves Klein Blue (2025). The work is an homage to Yves Klein (1928–1962), for which the museum team selected the color closest to his iconic “International Klein Blue” (IKB). By replacing the licensed pigment with locally available paint, the work raises questions about artistic legacy, authenticity, and institutional power dynamics.
Drawing from diverse cultural traditions, including Korean vernacular practices as well as modernist legacies, Yang has constructed environments that are at once sensorial and conceptual. Through materials, rituals, and spatial configurations, the exhibition reflected and embodied the fluidity of contemporary life and offered viewers a layered and contemplative experience. With its presentation in Zurich, Haegue Yang: Leap Year concluded a sixteen-month tour across three European countries.
