Takuro Someya Contemporary Art is pleased to announce the opening of the solo exhibition Nature Observation by artist duo Mai Yamashita + Naoto Kobayashi from May 12 through June 23, 2018. This exhibition will be their first solo show at TSCA since The Four Souvenirs and The Book in 2011. Yamashita and Kobayashi have been working officially as an artist duo since 2001 and have produced and showcased works across a wide range of mediums—in particular through video and sculpture—both within and outside of Japan.
Nature has continuously been a core theme of their practice, including How to Make a Mountain Sculpture (2006-2010): a sculpture and photograph series created while visiting the Swiss Alps. Nature Observation presents four new video pieces that evenly showcase their handling of varying subject matters: namely, stones, the ocean, mountains, dogs, stars, and humans. Rather than posing nature as an opponent to humankind, the viewpoint narrated in these artworks regards everything—from people to the universe—as a part of the flow of nature.
In the work Letting the Mountains Hear the Voice of the Ocean—a video installation projected on two screens in the main venue—Yamashita and Kobayashi trek through a mountain while releasing the recorded sounds of the sea from a speaker. This activity, in turn, allows for the trees, birds, and alpine to listen to the flow of ocean’s waves. As nature’s two oppositions face each other, a sense of disorder is suddenly felt and this perception, in a way, reminds us of “dépaysement”: the French word to describe displacement or disorientation often used in surrealism.
On the other hand, in the work Cairn—in which the artists consciously imitate the Mono-ha (School of Things) style—the duo physically piles on top of one another to literally reenact a human-made cairn (heap of stones). This contemplative piece aims to question the relationship between living and non-living things.
Another video work, Dog or Ocean, depicts the artists’ dog, Anne, barking endlessly at the breaking waves of the ocean. This work depicts a mysterious confrontation between Anne and the ocean, where the canine seemingly perceives the waves as living things. Anne challenges the gushing tide to a battle, and from time to time, the waves begin to crash harder as if responding to the match.
Polaris, which will be shown in the smaller section of the gallery, is a video work that utilizes footage of the night sky to further magnify just a few pixels of the North Star. In turn, the light of this star, which has historically guided humans as a signpost to follow the right path, will illuminate the small room.
We would like to invite you to this exhibit that hopes to display the animistic view Yamashita and Kobayashi have developed in the recent years.
Mai Yamashita born 1976 in Chiba, Japan, graduates with Ph.D. from Tokyo University of the Arts; Naoto Kobayashi born 1974 in Chiba, Japan, graduated with M.A from Tokyo University of the Arts and Music. The artist duo met during their high school years and started working together officially in 2001. They currently live and work in Chiba Prefecture, Japan.
Yamashita and Kobayashi have participated in residency programs such as the Künstlerhaus Bethanien (Berlin 2010) and International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) (New York 2011), among others. Major solo exhibitions include Oyama City Kurumaya Museum of Art 2015, Asifakeil, MuseumsQuartier (Vienna 2014), Kunstverein Göttingen (Germany 2011), Kunsthalle Lingen (Germany 2007). They have also participated in group shows and art festivals around the world including: Centre Pompidou Málaga (Spain 2018), Palazzo delle Esposizioni (Rome 2017), Art Tower Mito Contemporary Art Gallery (Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan 2015), Yokohama Triennale 2011, Aichi Triennale 2010, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Vigo (MARCO) (Spain 2010), and The Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma (Helsinki 2006).
Mai Yamashita + Naoto Kobayashi | Nature Observation
Exhibition period: 2018.5.12 (sat) – 6.23 (sat)
Opening reception: 5.12 (sat) 18:00 – 20:00
Tuesday – Saturday 12:00 – 19:00 (Closed on Sundays, Mondays and National Holidays)
3-9-11-1F Minamiazabu Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0047 Japan
TEL 03-6804-3018 ｜FAX 03-4578-0318 ｜E-MAIL gallery@tsca.jp
この度、Takuro Someya Contemporary Artでは2018年5月12日（土）〜6月23日（土）まで、山下麻衣＋小林直人の個展「自然観察」を開催いたします。山下＋小林にとってTSCAでは2011年の「The Four Souvenirs and The Book」以来、約7年ぶりの個展開催となります。山下＋小林は2001年から公式にユニットでの活動を始めて以来、国内外で映像や彫刻をメディウムに作品を制作・
スイス、アルプスの山々を訪れて制作された彫刻と写真のシリーズ《How to make a mountain sculpture》（2006-2010）をはじめ、これまでも自然を舞台とする作品を制作してきた山下＋小林ですが、今回は展覧会タイトル「自然観察」のもと、自然を人の対義語として捉えるのではなく人も宇宙も流れゆく自然の一部とし、石、海、山、犬、星、人を同等のモチーフとして解釈し、観察しながら制作された新作の映像作品4点を発表いたします。
二画面に映像を投影する《海の声を山に聞かせる》では、とある山を登りながら、作家二人が海で録音した波の音をスピーカーで流し、木々や鳥、連なる山々に聞かせます。海と山という自然風景としては対極のもの同士を向き合わせることで生まれる違和感は、シュルレアリスムにおける手法の一種であるデペイズマンを思わせます。一方、「もの派風な構図を意識した」という《積み石》では、二人がうずくまって重なり合い、動かない石を演じることで「もの」と「生きもの」との境界あるいは連続性に疑問を投げかけます。《犬か海か》は、《Anne and Anne’s Sculpture》（2012）や《積み石》でも登場する作家の愛犬アンが海に向かって延々と吠え続けるようすを映した映像作品。波を生き物と思っているかのように戦いを挑むアンと、応戦するように時に激しく波を押し寄せさせる海との不思議な対立構造を映し出します。今回小部屋に展示される《北極星》は星空をビデオで撮影し、北極星が映る数ピクセルのみを拡大した作品。道標として人々を導いてきた星の光で部屋を満たします。
4作品を通して、近年の山下＋小林のアニミズム的観点を色濃く表した展示となります。この機会に是非ご高覧ください。
山下麻衣/ 1976年千葉県生まれ、東京芸術大学大学院美術研究科博士後期課程修了
小林直人/ 1974年千葉県生まれ、東京芸術大学大学院美術研究科修士課程修了
山下と小林は高校時代に出会い、
山下麻衣＋小林直人｜自然観察
開催期間 2018年5月12日（土）～6月23日（土）
オープニングレセプション 5月12日（土） 18時 – 20時
開廊：火曜 – 土曜 12:00 – 19:00（休廊 日曜・月曜・祝日）
〒106-0047 東京都港区南麻布 3-9-11 パインコーストハイツ 1F
TEL 03-6804-3018 ｜FAX 03-4578-0318 ｜E-MAIL gallery@tsca.jp
12:00～19:00（日曜・月曜・祝日休廊）
1F Tsukiji KB Bldg., 1-5-11 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0045, Japan
12:00-19:00 (closed on Mon., Sun., Holidays)
TEL: +81-(0)3-6278-0136
FAX: +81-(0)3-6278-0137
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