Curated by Mami Kataoka
Participating artists: Busui Ajaw, Nelo Akamatsu, Poklong Anading, Akiko Ando, Ryoko Aoki, Takashi Arai, Lynda Benglis, Jaeeun Choi, Yoko Daihara, Jose Dávila, Miho Dohi, Heri Dono, Shingo Francis, Asako Fujikura, Laurent Grasso, Yuki Harada, Yutaka Hatta, Taloi Havini, Naotaka Hiro, Leiko Ikemura, Tomiyuki Kaneko, Kikuji Kawada, Taek Sang Kim, Mariko Kobayashi, Takuro Kuwata, Lee Kit, Josaku Maeda, Shiro Matsui, Mit Jai Inn, Kazuko Miyamoto, Rikichi Miyanaga, Miwa Kyusetsu XIII, Kisho Mukaiyama, Namika Nakai, Junko Oki, Yoshiki Omote, Marina Perez Simão, Solange Pessoa, Sopheap Pich, Thomas Ruff, Akane Saijo, Aki Sasamoto, Albert Yonathan Setyawan, Arlene Shechet, Taro Shinoda, Kishio Suga, Shooshie Sulaiman, Mika Tajima, Alexander Tovborg, Shigeo Toya, Charwei Tsai, Yuji Ueda, Eiji Uematsu, Haegue Yang, Yee I-Lann, Ken + Julia Yonetani, Gozo Yoshimasu
AWT Focus is a curated sales platform with a historical scope. Each year a guest curator is invited to experiment with new narratives of modern and contemporary art through works drawn from Art Week Tokyo’s participating galleries.
This year’s edition of AWT Focus is led by Mami Kataoka, one of Japan’s most accomplished curators. “Earth, Wind, and Fire: Visions of the Future from Asia” surveys Japanese contemporary art in relation to new practices in Asia and beyond. The exhibition is divided into four sections addressing the themes of cosmic structures; hand, body, and prayer; invisible forces; and natural cycles and ecosystems.
The 57 participating artists and groups hail from places as varied as Brazil, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Mexico, the Philippines, and Taiwan as well as Japan. Alongside 26 Japanese galleries, three international galleries—Kukje (Seoul), Silverlens (Manila/New York), and TKG+ (Taipei)—are contributing works to the exhibition.
CURATORIAL STATEMENT
New divisions and conflicts keep breaking out around the world, while the global environmental crisis only continues to deepen. Alongside these pressing issues, recognizing previously marginalized identities and cultures has become a major concern of contemporary art. What kind of future can we envision under these conditions? Is it possible for different values to coexist in diversity? What is the necessity of art right now?
Although there are no right answers to these questions, I believe the natural principles and invisible energies that have sustained our existence from long ago can give us a broader sense of the world in times of uncertainty. Numerous thought and faith systems in Asia conceive holistic worldviews based on dynamic practices of sense and wisdom that account for the integration of the microcosm of the body within the macrocosm of the universe, the fluid equilibrium of the five cosmic elements, and the presence of the spirits that dwell in the earth and in natural phenomena. This outlook in turn reminds us of a world understood through the inquiry of physics, chemistry, astronomy, and geology, rather than one ruled through power and the forced categorizations of politics and economics, as well as a world beyond science altogether.
Entitled “Earth, Wind, and Fire: Visions of the Future from Asia,” this edition of AWT Focus examines the cosmic elements of earth, wind, fire, water, and wood and the invisible energies that generate their circulation. The exhibition brings together representations of the universe and its energy cycles in contemporary art, spanning from Asian worldviews to those of other diverse cultures.
The host venue, the Okura Museum of Art, was established in 1917 as the first private art museum in Japan; the design of its building by the pioneering modern architect Chuta Ito, who traveled to China, India, Myanmar, the United States, Europe, and beyond, reflects the influence of his encounters with different world civilizations. In this space watched over by lions, dragons, and other imaginary beasts, I hope to cross national and cultural borders to offer a new perception of the cultural dialogues, connections, and continuities that emerge from among the works on view while also reconsidering the sensitivity and imagination that humanity has developed over the course of its existence in the universe.
Art Week Tokyo is organized by Japan Contemporary Art Platform in collaboration with Art Basel, with support from Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs. Art Week Tokyo’s infrastructural development initiative, the Art Week Tokyo Mobile Project, is co-organized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Art Week Tokyo Mobile Project Organizing Committee.
Source: AWT FOCUS (Art Week Tokyo), Press release, PR TIMES
Location:
Okura Museum of Art
2-10-3 Toranomon, Minato-ku
105-0001 Tokyo, Japan
tel. +81 (0) 3-5575-5711
fax. +81 (0) 3-5575-5712
https://www.shukokan.org/
Art Week Tokyo