Haegue Yang

A defining publication marking the artist's first North American retrospective to survey Haegue Yang's two-dimensional explorations over the last three decades

The book includes 58 works from seven series: Hardware Store Collages, Lacquer Paintings, Non-Foldings, Trustworthies (abstractions made from security envelopes and other materials), Wallpapers, Edibles, and most recently, Mesmerizing Mesh (cut and folded paper collages based on varied, international shamanistic practices). These diverse investigations have accompanied Yang's practice in three dimensions—including her iconic venetian blind installations and remarkable sonic sculptures with metallic bells—and have been presented in all of her major exhibitions. Until now, however, they have never been comprehensively explored on their own.

Pointing to the cumulative impact of these two-dimensional works, Haegue Yang: Flat Works unearths through-lines across Yang's many diverse projects. Formed around the key word "flat," it provides a rich but rare insight into Yang's conceptual map.

One of the most important artists working today, Yang is predominantly known as a sculptor and installation artist. Nonetheless, her two-dimensional investigations have been consistent and essential to her creative development. A fundamental recognition of these series is that "flatness" registers a collapse of the three-dimensional world as image.