“A Fatigue Always Comes with a Dream” is centerpiece of Jung Uk Yang exhibition in Chelsea (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
Who: Jung Uk Yang
What: “A Man Without Words”
Where: Doosan Gallery, 533 West 25th St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
When: Through Thursday, August 27
Why: Korean artist Jung Uk Yang’s first solo show in the United States is an intriguing collection of four kinetic sculptures that incorporate movement with light, shadow, and/or sound in fun, mesmerizing ways. Referencing people’s basic, everyday lives, Yang constructs mechanical installations using wood, thread, and motors. On entering Doosan Gallery in Chelsea, visitors are met by “Be of One Same Mind,” an ovular piece that flutters in greeting. On the other side of the wall, “The Hardship Is Whispering Hope” sits on the floor, casting a large shadow, moving ever so slowly until ringing a bell. The intricately designed “Only the Turtle Does Not Know about Our Weekends” features a bevy of moving parts and abstract faces behind a wooden frame, as if a kind of living portrait of humanity. And the centerpiece of the exhibit, the eye-catching “A Fatigue Always Comes with a Dream,” bathes the back room in stunning shadows, a solitary lightbulb in the middle of moving parts including empty bottles held by thread, honoring South Korean apartment security guards who work overnight, confined to their little glass booths.