Anicka Yi

Anicka Yi. Anicka Yi is a South Korean-born American artist renowned for her pioneering work at the intersection of art, science, and philosophy. Her practice utilizes unconventional materials like bacteria, chemicals, and scent to create immersive installations that challenge perceptions of life, gender, and ecology. Based in New York City, Yi has gained international acclaim for her speculative explorations of non-human intelligence and the future of evolution, earning prestigious awards including the Hugo Boss Prize.

Biography

Anicka Yi was born in Seoul and moved to the United States as a child, growing up in the New York metropolitan area. She initially pursued studies in the humanities before earning a Master of Fine Arts from Hunter College in CUNY. Her early career was influenced by the vibrant artistic communities of New York City and her engagement with critical theory. Yi's work has been deeply informed by collaborations with scientists from institutions like MIT and her participation in significant residencies, including the Artist-in-Residence program at the Museum of Modern Art. She lives and works primarily in New York City.

Artistic practice

Yi's artistic practice is characterized by a radical, transdisciplinary approach that merges contemporary art with biotechnology and experimental philosophy. She is known for employing living organisms, such as bacteria and algae, alongside industrial chemicals, perfumes, and thermoplastics to create sensory environments. Her work often investigates themes of interspecies communication, microbiology, and the construction of identity, challenging anthropocentric views. This methodology positions her within discourses of posthumanism and has drawn comparisons to the work of other bio-artists like Eduardo Kac and institutions like SymbioticA.

Major works and exhibitions

A seminal early work, *You can call me F* (2015), presented at the The Kitchen, featured terrariums containing cultures of bacteria swabbed from the bodies of one hundred feminist artists. She achieved major institutional recognition with her 2017 solo exhibition *Life Is Cheap* at the Guggenheim Museum, which included installations using mosquitoes and the scent of pheromones. For the 2019 Venice Biennale, she created *Biologizing the Machine*, a series exploring machine intelligence inspired by marine invertebrates. Her 2021 Turbine Hall commission for Tate Modern, *In Love With The World*, featured autonomous aerobots or "aerobes" that moved through the space, proposing a new model of artificial life.

Recognition and legacy

Anicka Yi's innovative work has been widely recognized with major awards, most notably the 2016 Hugo Boss Prize, a juried award administered by the Guggenheim Museum. She has been a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Artists Fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts. Her influence extends into academic and critical discourse, with her work featured in publications like *Artforum* and discussed in relation to thinkers such as Donna Haraway. Yi's legacy lies in expanding the material and conceptual boundaries of installation art, offering profound speculative inquiries into ecology, technology, and the future of sensory experience.

Category:American contemporary artists Category:South Korean contemporary artists Category:Bioartists Category:Hugo Boss Prize winners Category:1971 births Category:Living people