Haegue Yang (b. 1971, Seoul; lives in Seoul and Berlin) is known for large-scale installations that employ utilitarian objects. Motivated by the generative power of abstraction, Yang choreographs immersive encounters with light, color, and sound, creating heightened sensory environments that communicate beyond language. Her works often draw on specific historical narratives and figures, yet these sources remain mostly concealed. Through what the artist describes as “incubated abstraction,” historical references function as latent structures for the work, creating a porous relationship between past and present where new possibilities emerge.
Star-Crossed Rendezvous brings together two major installations executed using customized venetian blinds, a window treatment designed with adjustable angled slats that filter light and structure spatial relationships. This material has been central to Yang’s practice since the mid-2000s, allowing the artist to engage with the viewer’s perception and movement. Made nearly a decade apart, these markedly different works appear as two halves of an imperfect whole, foregrounding Yang’s interest in asymmetry and doubling, both recurring principles in her practice.
On one side of the exhibition, Sol LeWitt Upside Down – K123456, Expanded 1078 Times, Doubled and Mirrored (2015) is a monochromatic installation inspired by the cube structures of American conceptual artist Sol LeWitt (1928–2007). Yang adopts LeWitt’s open cubes and replaces them with a dense accumulation of blinds, with layers of slotted angular forms that oscillate between transparency and opacity. On the other side, Star-Crossed Rendezvous after Yun (2024) pays tribute to the life and work of Isang Yun (1917–95), a pioneering composer and political dissident. Moving lights synchronized to Yun’s Double Concerto (1977) animate vibrant geometric structures, producing a shifting, multisensory encounter with the musical composition.
On March 10, 2026, join MOCA and LA Philharmonic for a special one evening performance of Yun’s Double Concerto, 1977. This project bridges two distinguished cultural organizations and their unique architectural sites, connecting them through time and space, with this immersive sonic and visual experience.
Prior to this special joint presentation, Yang and MOCA organized a day-long symposium Star-Crossed Rendezvous: The Musical Legacy of Isang Yun, gathering leading musicologists, composers and historians on November 22, 2025 at the Ahmanson Auditorium in MOCA Grand Avenue.
Haegue Yang: Star-Crossed Rendezvous is organized by Paula Kroll, Assistant Curator, with Clara Kim, Chief Curator & Director of Curatorial Affairs, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.
Lead support is provided by the MOCA Global Council and Ministry of Culture, Sports & Tourism of Korea, Korea Arts Management Service, and Korea Focus Support Program.
Major support is provided by Jerry and Terri Kohl, the MOCA Projects Council, and Margaret Morgan and Wesley Phoa.
Generous support is provided by CJ ENM.
Additional support is provided by Betsy Greenberg.
This exhibition is made possible by generous endowment support from The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation.
Exhibitions at MOCA are supported by the MOCA Fund for Exhibitions with lead funding provided by The Goodman Family Foundation. Major funding is provided by Tatiana Botton, Kathi and Gary Cypres, Alfred E. Mann Charities, and Alicia Miñana and Robert Lovelace. Generous funding is provided by Michael and Zelene Fowler, The Earl and Shirley Greif Foundation, John Morace and Tom Kennedy, Daryl and Robert Offer, Jonathan Segal, and the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation.
Enjoy this curated playlist created to accompany the exhibition.
