Boston, MA — LaiSun Keane is proud to present Eyes Facing Backward / 눈이뒤집히다, an exhibition by Korean American artist Tae Hwang in relation to American Sculptor, Lawrence Weiner, fellow artist and mentor to Hwang since she was a young adult. The exhibition places Hwang’s recent paintings and drawings in dialogue with language works by Lawrence Weiner (1942–2021).
The title of the exhibition, in both Korean and English, draws on a Korean idiom that describes sudden, irrational acts - from extreme violence to minor excesses. For Hwang, the phrase recalls her mother’s humorous scolding when she spent long hours watching cartoons. The English version, Eyes Facing Backward, is a loose translation chosen to reflect her dialogue with Weiner’s practice. It conveys both anger and restless energy, while also signaling the artist’s position of looking both forward and backward, navigating memory, influence, and the shared logic of art.
Hwang’s works draw from several American cartoon series, she watched growing up, including Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry. Rendered in a palette of red and black, these images point to themes of cultural consumption, propaganda, and the negotiation of identity within American media.
Weiner’s works, WHEN COMPLETED AT A DISTANCE and WHEN DELETED FROM THE EMISSION, co-exist with Hwang’s works. Together, the works of both artists prompt viewers to consider how meaning is constructed through both language and visual culture. As Hwang worked for over a decade for the Lawrence Weiner Studio, the exhibition also considers the complex relationship of mentorship and practice between two artists of radically different generations and cultural backgrounds.
Tae Hwang, based in Baltimore, MD received her BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and MFA from University of California, San Diego. Her extensive exhibition experiences on the east and west coast have been recognized with major grants and fellowships that include the Maryland State Arts Council Creativity and Artist Grants, the James Irvine Exploring Engagement Grant at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, a Research
Fellowship at the Blum Initiative on Global Justice (UC San Diego), the Urbanisms of Inclusion Fellowship (IUAV di Venezia & The New School), and the Strategic Partnerships Grant (Bauhaus- Universität Weimar).
Lawrence Weiner considered his language-based works sculpture. He is celebrated for his approach to artmaking, treating language as a three-dimensional object, whose materiality and dimensionality extend to the many ways language resides in culture. The work can take on different meanings in different contexts as well as through the viewer’s individual lens and perception. Weiner’s practice has been internationally recognized with solo exhibitions at institutions including the Pérez Art Museum Miami, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Haus der Kunst Munich, Whitney Museum of American Art, and Walker Art Center. He participated in multiple editions of Germany’s documenta and Venice Biennales, as well as the São Paulo Biennial. His honors included fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Wolfgang Hahn Prize, and an honorary doctorate from the City University of New York.
We would like to thank Tae Hwang, Alice Weiner and Kirsten Weiner for agreeing to our collaboration.
