CLEANSE (Portal)
2026 On view
Artist Rachel Youn
DetailsAluminum, AC motor, hardware, nylon, UHMW, lattice, artificial wisteria
Curator Raphael Fonseca
Address
3401 Arsenal St
St. Louis, MO
Site Description
Accessibility: Free parking is available with paved or concrete sidewalk ramps and pathways to entrances. The primary accessible entrance is located at the front of the building on Arsenal Street. ADA pathways include accessible ramps and lifts, and staff can assist with navigation. This site is fully indoors with heating, cooling, a water refill station, and restrooms. You are invited to walk through this artwork. Please be respectful of the art as you move through it.
Artwork Details
About the Artwork
Rachel Youn creates artworks that combine deconstructed machines and objects from everyday life. Activated by electricity, these objects begin to move, creating surprising and theatrical experiences. CLEANSE (Portal) is a scaled-down car wash machine made with artificial plants, a material that frequently appears in Youn’s work. The movement of materials offers space to think about the connections between industry and nature, work and play, joy and melancholy. For Youn, a culture of work and repetition is often associated with immigrant labor, including within their own family, where sacrifice and productivity are prioritized.
Youn has a second artwork for Counterpublic 2026 at the National Building Arts Center, an industrial campus in Sauget, Illinois. NBAC houses the largest collection of built architectural artifacts in the United States.
With support from William T. Kemper Foundation.