EXHIBITION

奈良美智
— Will the Circle Be Unbroken

会期:2017年9月29日(金)〜10月1日(日)
時間:11:00 - 21:00(但し最終日は17:00まで)
会場:代官山ヒルサイドプラザ

一般社団法人日本芸術写真協会は、9月29日(金)から10月1日(日)まで、代官山フォトフェア関連企画として奈良美智の個展「Will the Circle Be Unbroken」を開催します。本展では、1980年代初頭から現在に至るまで、奈良美智が写真を介して描いてきた世界、同作家が国内外で展開してきた活動をこれまでにない視点から紹介します。

 

創作の日々や旅の記録をとらえた奈良による写真作品は、色彩により思い描くかたちに息吹を与えた絵画作品、醇乎たる思考をとらえたドローイング、形づくる指の痕跡を内包した彫刻作品と同じく、もしくはそれ以上に、作家が走り続けてきた軌跡とその視線を無垢なイメージとして表出させます。掌でそっと掬い上げられたような写真群は、根源的な自我や幼い頃の原風景、培われた感性など制作の源に向き合いながら、常に未来へと向かう作家の真摯な姿のようです。

 

これらの写真群は、奈良の主題に抱く敬意、それらに見出した純粋さと真正さを表出しています。私たちはそこに作家自身、その記憶、制作行為、パーソナリティなど、創造行為における全ての側面をみることができます。作家が日々出会う風土、音楽、生命、歴史、風景、人々は、制作における深い内省と対話に伴奏するように、写真という普遍的な瞬間として、記録されてきました。本能的に捉えられ、フィルムやデジタル、iPhoneなどが等価に扱われた写真としての記憶は、まるで自分自身がいつか見た風景のように鑑賞者を作家が提示する旅へと誘うことでしょう。

 

「Will the Circle Be Unbroken」、「永遠の絆」という展覧会タイトルには、奈良にとっての写真の重要性が提示されています。写真は単なる作品制作における素材であるだけでなく、作家の日々を語りうるものであり、他のメディア以上に、作家自身の感性を通じて、その経験や思考を作品に反映しうる重要なものでもあります。それは全ての作品において最もパーソナルなものであるだけでなく、全ての創造行為、そして、作品と作家をつなぐ、始まりも終わりもない円、絆といえます。その絶えざる絆から見える芸術写真の未来を、ぜひこの機会にご高覧ください。

Yoshitomo Nara
— Will the Circle Be Unbroken

Dates: September 29 Fri. – October 1 Sun., 2017
Times: 11:00 - 21:00
Site: Daikanyama Hillside Plaza

The Fine-Art Photography Association (FAPA) will present Yoshitomo Nara’s solo exhibition “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” from September 29 Fri. – October 1 Sun., 2017 in association with the Daikanyama Photo Fair. This is the first comprehensive exhibition of photographs by Nara with works from the early 1980s to the present day. It provides a new perspective of understanding the career of this international artist.

 

Throughout his career, Nara has used photography as a way of capturing his experiences and memories. But it is also a medium that complements his art practices, and is a source for his creativity. For example, like in his paintings, Nara explores color; like his drawings, Nara’s photographs aim to be immediate expressions of thoughts, and similar to his sculptures, they bear traces of his fingers that have shaped their forms.

 

Collectively, the photographs show the respect Nara has for his subjects; he wants to capture the authenticity and sense of innocence that he sees in them. In so doing, we see who he is as a person, how his memories, his art practices, and his personality are all part of his creativity. He applies this attitude to all his subjects including landscape, music, literature, history, and the people he encounters from day to day. They are treated equally because he engages with them emotionally rather than rationally. Similarly, he works in many forms of “photography” including celluloid, digital, and Iphone without privileging one form over another. What matters is that they are records of his creative process and life experiences and there are invitations for his viewers to join him in his journeys

 

The title of this exhibition, “Will the Circle be Unbroken,” captures a fundamental aspect of why photography is important to Nara. For Nara, photography speaks about life rather than as another medium of art making. Nonetheless, it is an important part of his artistic production because photography, unlike any of his other art practices allows him to reflect on his experiences and think through his own sense of self. It is not only the most personal of all his works, but it connects all his other art practices thus completing a circle, which without beginnings or endings connects seamlessly with his art and himself.

奈良美智

1959年青森県弘前市生まれ。美術家。1987年愛知県立芸術大学大学院修士課程修了。1988年ドイツ、デュッセルドルフ芸術アカデミーに入学、卒業後もケルンを拠点に作品を制作。2000年に帰国、以後精力的に作品を制作し、国内外の展覧会で発表を続ける。近年では2012年、個展「君や 僕に ちょっと似ている」が横浜美術館、青森県立美術館、熊本市現代美術館を巡回(2013年まで)。同年、個展「青い森の ちいさな ちいさな おうち」を十和田市現代美術館にて開催。2017年、豊田市美術館にて個展「奈良美智 for better or worse」を開催(7月15日~9月24日)。創作の日々や旅の記録を写した写真作品で知られ、写真集「the good, the bad, the average … and unique. 奈良美智写真集」(リトルモア)、「奈良美智写真帖 2003-2012」(講談社)を出版。

Yoshitomo Nara

Born in 1959 in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, Japan. Artist. Gained an MFA from Aichi Prefectural University of Arta and Music in 1987. Commenced studies at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Germany in 1988, and continued to work in Cologne after graduating. Returning to Japan in 2000, he continued to work prolifically and show his works internationally. Recent exhibitions include “a bit like you and me…” at Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama (2012); traveling to Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto and Aomori Museum of Art, Aomori (2012 – 2013) and “In The Little Little House in The Blue Woods” at Towada Art Center, Aomori (2012). In 2017 he has a solo exhbition “Yoshitomo Nara for better or worse Works: 1987-2017” at Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Toyota, Aichi (July 17 – September 24). The artist is known for photographic works produced to document his life and travels, and has published the collections “the good, the bad, the average … and unique.” (Little More) and “Yoshitomo Nara Photo Book 2003-2012” (Kodansha).