Relation
This is the installation at the group exhibition "The 8th Tsubaki-kai - This New World" at Shiseido Gallery. "Tsubaki-kai" started in 1947, and multiple artists are selected to hold the group exhibitions with the same members for several years. Shiseido continues to collect the works exhibited at Tsubaki-kai. (Shiseido has Shiseido Gallery in Ginza and Shiseido Art House in Kakegawa city Shizuoka Prefecture). The 8th members are Hiroshi Sugito, Ryuji Nakamura, Nerhol, Futoshi Miyagi, Aiko Miyanaga, and Me [mé]. Although it is a characteristic of contemporary artists, it may be the characteristic of this time selection that they are artists who perform cross-genre expressions and activities and are difficult to classify such as paintings and sculptures. This members will exhibit for three years while being aware of "This New World" after Corona. The theme of the first year is "Inspiration". At this Tsubaki-kai, a new attempt was made that has never been seen before. The members will select some works inspired by "This New World" from the collections of past Tsubaki-kai, present their responses in their own works and methods, and add a new perspective to the collections of the future.
I was interested in artists and their works that are conscious of "relationship" in the huge collections. And I chose the series "EBBA-No.4", "EBBA-No.9" and "Yotsume-no-ike I-IV" painting the women’s face by Mitsuko Miwa, and wood carving "Hito" by Rei Naito. Miwa Mitsuko draws the same face and furniture over and over again, changing the trimming little by little. Although they are oil paintings, they look editorial like photographs. And they look like each work that presupposes a single painting, and they also look like a collective work that presupposes set work. They are mysterious works. On the other hand, Rei Naito has created many small wood carving people so far. It is very small to be exhibited, and the material is weak, but it is a work that makes veiwers aware of the size and hardness of the place where it is placed by the smallness and weakness, and gives off power in relation to the space. In addition to exhibit the collections, we must also create and exhibit our own work, but if possible, I wanted to convey the charm of the collections without making my own work. Also, since I usually design spaces, I thought of an exhibition that would create a relationship with each other in the space. First, I exhibited Mitsuko Miwa's works on the large wall next to the reception. And I installed a 1.5m high wall 2.4m away from the works in front of the works to make a long approach from the reception to Gallery 1. I made it the same as the gallery wall as if it was originally there, making it inconspicuous. Finally, I placed Rei Naito's wood carving "Hito" on the top of the wall made in that way. After passing the reception, viewers walk through the place like a corridor separated by a low wall where you can see the exhibition of Gallery 1 faintly, while watching the works of Mitsuko Miwa and Rei Naito, and when they turn left at the end, Gallery 1 appears. Looking back at its wall from Gallery 1, Mitsuko Miwa's works of women’s faces are trimmed again by the wall, creating another work between the work and the viewer. The wall is also an exhibition stand that is too large for Rei Naito's small wood carving "Hito", but for example, it looks like a long cape where someone walk, encouraging viewers to make various imaginations and impressions. In addition, you can see two works with different scales at the same time through the wall, and you will want to find a relationship there as well. We usually tend to focus too much on a thing itself, but by shifting the focus a little and focusing on the relationship between multiple things, we may be able to think new. I think their works telling us so. Mitsuko Miwa's work, Rei Naito's work, and the wall are independent and unrelated, but when the viewer find various relationships between them, their own scenery and sensations stand up. I wanted to make an exhibition like so. I thought that the charm of their works would convey to viewers by that.
What was interesting about the exhibition as a whole was that a chain of inspiration was naturally born while keeping a certain distance from each other. For example, the wall in Gallery 2 was added by Hiroshi Sugito after he saw my wall, and Me[mé] exhibited performance exhibition using the wall by Sugito, and many motifs of stone appeared, and the height of each other's exhibits werer conscious. I think that the complex relationships that influence each other like ripples are unique to the Tsubaki-kai, which is rarely seen in other group exhibitions.
Title Relation
Completion 28 May 2021
Function installation
Site SHISEIDO GALLERY, B1 Tokyo Ginza Sshiseido Building, 8-8-3, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Exhibition title The 8th Tsubaki-kai “This New World”
Exhibition period 5 June 2021 – 29 August 2021
Organizer SHISEIDO
Members Hiroshi Sugito, Ryuji Nakamura, Nerhol, Futoshi Miyagi, Aiko Miyanaga, Me[mé]
Artists selected by other member Genpei Akasegawa, Noe Aoki, Naoya Hatakeyama
Size W8140mm D300mm H1550mm
Materials wood、plywood、putty、paint etc.
Construction TOKYO STUDIO
Photography Ryuji Nakamura |