Rachel Youn
Biography
Rachel Youn (b. 1994, lives and works in St. Louis) works across sculpture and installation through sourcing materials with a history of aspiration and failure through online second-hand shopping. Youn rescues electric massagers from suburban limbo, fastening artificial plants to the machines to create clumsy, erotic, and absurd kinetic sculptures. Haunted by their immigrant father’s pursuit of the American dream, their work identifies with the replica that earnestly desires to be real, and the failed object that simulates care and intimacy. Their solo recent exhibitions have taken place at Night Gallery, Los Angeles (2023), Sargent’s Daughters, New York (2022), Soy Capitán, Berlin (2022), Bruno David Gallery, Clayton (2021), and Great Rivers Biennial, Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis (2020). They have participated in group exhibitions at Aranya Art Centre, Beidaihe (2023), Brutus, Rotterdam (2023), Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome (2022), Galerie du Monde, Central, Hong Kong (2022), Wassaic Project, Wassaic, New York (2021), and HAIR + Nails, Minneapolis (2020). They received their BFA from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. Youn is currently an MFA candidate at the Yale School of Art, New Haven.
Works
Rachel Youn
Fixus
2022
Shiatsu massager, artificial flower, steel
109 x 40.5 x 46 cm | 42.9 x 15.9 x 18.1 in
Fixus
2022
Shiatsu massager, artificial flower, steel
109 x 40.5 x 46 cm | 42.9 x 15.9 x 18.1 in
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Rachel Youn
Dutiful
2024
Fake flora, shiatsu back massager, foam rollers, steel, drum stand, dog boots
61 x 45.7 x 76.2 cm | 24 x 18 x 30 in
Dutiful
2024
Fake flora, shiatsu back massager, foam rollers, steel, drum stand, dog boots
61 x 45.7 x 76.2 cm | 24 x 18 x 30 in
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Rachel Youn
Gape
2024
Fake flora, stainless steel, shiatsu neck massager, tv wall mount, found parasol
55.9 x 63.5 x 35.6 cm | 22 x 25 x 14 in
Gape
2024
Fake flora, stainless steel, shiatsu neck massager, tv wall mount, found parasol
55.9 x 63.5 x 35.6 cm | 22 x 25 x 14 in
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Exhibitions
Artists: Sarah Fripon, Adéla Janská, Min Jia, Alicja Pakosz, Rachel Youn
Hong Kong
18 May—06 July 2024