HAEGUE YANG: ARCANE ABSTRACTIONS

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.

February 8 - April 5, 2025

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.

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.