Cay Yoon is a New York City-based artist making sculptures and installations driven by private inner worlds, psychological states, and emotional landscapes. She holds an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania and a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University. She has exhibited with galleries in New York and Pennsylvania and has recently completed a residency at the Vermont Studio Center.
Your secret art venue when you seek peace and quiet
I love visiting the Sculpture Center in Long Island City, Queens, which is located just a few blocks from my studio. The Sculpture Center already kind of exists like a secret venue – It is this small-but-defiant raw building, which was built as a trolley repair shop in the early 1900s, that is now sandwiched between two luxury condos. The space feels intimate and cavernous and the artwork exhibited there is always interesting and experimental. I also love seeing how different artists transform its unique tunnel spaces in the basement.
Your museum with a wow-factor
I am really impressed by the design of the the new Whitney Museum in the Meatpacking district. You can walk in and have a really seamless art-viewing experience from floor to floor- weaving in and out from indoors to outdoors while pausing and processing in between. There are plenty of large windows, breathing room, and great views of the Hudson River and the High Line. Everything feels really considered and integrated.
The best food experience in an art space
I recently had an amazing meal at the Flora Bar, located inside The Met Breuer. It really was the cherry on top after seeing a very inspiring retrospective of works by Marisa Merz, the sole female artist of the Arte Povera movement.
A museum gift shop that you never leave empty handed
The book store at PS1 MOMA has an excellent collection of contemporary art books. I pretty much love every museum gift shop.
Please share with us a special personal memory related to a museum experience
When I was in middle school, our class took a trip to the Natural History Museum. I remember having to sit under the life-size model of the giant blue whale for an extended period of time as a punishment after getting into trouble for reasons that escape me now. What does remain a vivid memory is that I got to really experience the enormity of the largest animal to ever have existed on earth, especially in relation to my small body underneath it.
