The Hayward Gallery in London is presenting 'Leap Year', the first major UK survey of internationally celebrated artist Haegue Yang. The exhibition spans Yang's career from the early 2000s to the present, featuring key works from her Light Sculptures and Sonic Sculptures series alongside three new commissions. Yang's practice incorporates a vast range of media—from paper collage and performative sculpture to immersive sensory installations—using household and industrial objects such as drying racks, light bulbs, metal-plated bells, and hanji (Korean paper) to explore themes of labour, migration, and displacement.
This survey matters because it offers UK audiences a comprehensive view of Yang's influential practice, which bridges East Asian traditions, modernism, and contemporary art history. Yang's multisensory environments challenge conventional visual perception and engage with pressing social and political issues. The exhibition also underscores the Hayward Gallery's continued commitment to presenting bold, large-scale contemporary art within its iconic Brutalist space at the Southbank Centre.