On March 10, contemporary artist Haegue Yang presented the collaborative program 《Star-Crossed Rendezvous》 with The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) and the Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil).
 
The project was conceived as a special collaboration between the two institutions representing the Grand Avenue Cultural District in downtown Los Angeles. Centered on the work of the late composer Isang Yun (1917–1995), the program revolved around his composition Double Concerto for Oboe, Harp, and Small Orchestra (1977).
 
Marking an encounter between contemporary art and music, the program also serves as a tribute by contemporary artists and musicians to Yun’s artistic world and enduring legacy.

First, at the museum’s main building, MOCA Grand Avenue, Haegue Yang unveiled the large-scale blind installation Star-Crossed Rendezvous after Yun (2024).
 
Presented for the first time in North America, the work was initially introduced in October 2024 at the large-scale survey exhibition 《Haegue Yang: Leap Year》 held at the Hayward Gallery in London. The installation draws inspiration from Double Concerto for Oboe, Harp, and Small Orchestra by the composer Isang Yun, whose life and music were shaped by the social and political upheavals of modern South Korea.

Unlike a typical concerto led by a single solo instrument, Double Concerto—as its title suggests—features the oboe and harp exchanging melodic lines to shape the composition. Responding to this musical structure, the artist choreographed two lights to drift between geometric structures.
 
The concerto, which takes its motif from the Korean folktale of Gyeonu and Jiknyeo, metaphorically reflects the reality of the division of the Korean Peninsula, evoking the poignancy of separation while also expressing, in multisensory form, longing, reunion, and harmony.
 
Similarly, the installation consists of Venetian blinds in different colors and structural forms layered into multiple strata, creating a rising diagonal shape reminiscent of a half-formed Ojakgyo bridge. As in the music of Isang Yun, the work simultaneously evokes separated lovers, the divided Korean Peninsula, and the asymmetrical legacy between Yun’s life—musically grounded in Europe—and his Korean roots.

After viewing the exhibition, audiences moved to the concert hall located across from the museum, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, where they were able to experience the music of Isang Yun live. The performance was conducted by Korean Canadian conductor Earl Lee, featuring Ryan Roberts, principal oboist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and principal harpist Emmanuel Ceysson, performing together with the orchestra.
 
In an interview with Yonhap News regarding the collaborative exhibition–performance project Star-Crossed Rendezvous, Haegue Yang remarked:
 
“The world is very noisy right now—there are wars, conflicts, and fears everywhere. I don’t think my work should simply divide things into ‘yin and yang’ or ‘black and white.’ Instead, it should be about constantly moving between those spaces. Seen from afar, perhaps it should become a kind of ‘Peace Concert.’”
 
Meanwhile, Yang’s solo exhibition 《Star-Crossed Rendezvous》, presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, will remain on view through August 2, 2026.

References

• 국제갤러리 보도자료 (Kukje Gallery Press Release)
• LA 필하모니, 엇갈린 랑데부 (LA Phil, Star-Crossed Rendezvous)
• 연합뉴스, 양혜규·LA필하모닉 '엇갈린 랑데뷰'…"소란한 세계속 피스콘서트 되길", 2026.03.10