tag:www.nca-g.com,2009-04-08:/exhibition//1 2010-07-18T07:11:50Z nca | nichido contemporary art tag:www.nca-g.com,2010:/exhibition//1.290 2010-07-09T05:35:17Z 2010-07-18T07:11:50Z

Akira Ishiguro “ISHIGURO-YA” Venue: nca | nichido contemporary art Date: 23rd July – 7th August, 2010 Gallery hours: Tue – Sat 11:00 - 19:00 /　Closed on Sun, Mon and National Holidays Reception: Friday 23rd July, 18:00 – 20:00 nca | nichido contemporary art is pleased to present an exhibition of works by Akira Ishiguro entitled “ISHIGURO-YA.” Drawing his inspiration from classical paintings in the Western tradition, Ishiguro derives his aesthetic models from ancient Greek and Roman art, producing works that replace its traditional motifs and subjects with contemporary icons and lifestyles. The entire space of the installation that accompanies his paintings was also built entirely by Ishiguro himself. This exhibition showcases 10 of his most recent paintings along with this self-made installation. A steganographic romance The art of painting consists in the belief that an image depicted by the painterly brushstroke constitutes some kind of truth about the nature of beauty. Throughout the ages, we have come to regard the image that appears on the final, uppermost layer of the canvas as an icon of that faith, receiving and accepting this dispensation of truth. Yet if the essence of painting resided in the laborious act of filling a canvas with countless brushstrokes so as to conceal the truth of that beauty within the depths of an abyss, where can we find the roots of this stranded beauty, so intimately entwined with the surface of the painting in question? My first encounter with Akira Ishiguro’s painting was entirely fortuitous. Thrust at me without warning and leaving me disoriented, it took the form of a paradoxical question about the probability of acknowledging the existence of his brand of painting. Whatever the case, I felt instinctively that here was an artist who painted not in order to reveal some truth about the nature of beauty, but rather to suppress it. Within the rigid, prescribed domain of the museum – a thick stone-walled fortress of self-proclaimed High Art – Ishiguro confronted the canon of classical Western paintings, earnestly scrutinizing each of them in order to learn how the masters depicted their chosen subjects. As if seeking to emulate them, he started making his own paintings in the same vein, populating them instead with the patron deities of Low Art: the beloved cartoon characters from animated films and video games who dared to infiltrate the foundations of High Art’s stronghold. What Ishiguro was seeking to do, of course, was not to try to resurrect these bewitching nymph-like beauties that he has depicted using classical methods. Rather, he invokes the goddesses and angels that inhabit the painting as a kind of icon whose function is to serve as an alibi and a pretext. The comical, often absurd tension that emerges as a result creates a forced layer of incongruity, guiding us towards a premonition of the truth that lies concealed beneath the ultra-thin canvas of the painting. As strange as this approach may seem, Ishiguro’s art is based on one of the oldest models of steganography, from which modern forms of data encryption and hidden information are derived. Similar to the historical accounts of Herodotus, which describe how secret messages were written on the wooden backing of a tablet before being covered up with beeswax, Ishiguro’s paintings demonstrate the paradox of how it is precisely by being suppressed that a truth can be most strategically conveyed. The myriad of painted brushstrokes in his work are nothing more or less than a ruse that conceals the truth anew, rather than causing it to emerge. Perhaps, then, what we required of our painters all along was the strength and courage to denounce the blind faith that glorified the depicted image, as well as their perseverance in continuing to suppress what had always been hidden from view. It is this power that Akira Ishiguro possesses: the power to overturn all the aesthetic values that reside peacefully in a world obssessed with superficial appearances, and to render that surface as vividly – and also as romantically – as possible. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Hiroshi Minamishima Akira Ishiguro: Born in Yokohama, Kanagawa in 1974. Selected Exhibitions: “For Rent! For Talent! 5” Mitsubishi-Jisho ARTIUM (2009), “GEISAI#12” (2009), “GEISAI MUSEUM#2” (2008), “GIFT” Gallery LE DÉCO (2008), “Debli Project Art Tour”(2008), “Debli Project” (2007), “GEISAI#5-10” (2004-2006). Hiroshi Minamishima: Born in Nagano, Japan in 1957. Professor of Joshibi University of Art and Design since April 2008. After graduating from the School of Art and Design, University of Tsukuba, Mr. Minamishima was involved in the founding of several museums in Japan, including Iwaki City Art Museum and the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art. In 1993, he received a scholarship from the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain and studied in Paris. From 2000, he worked for the establishment of the Contemporary Art Museum, Kumamoto (CAMK) and served as the founding director until 2008. He was also one of the co-curators of the International Triennale of Contemporary Art (ITCA) 2008 in Prague, and the commissioner of Japanese Pavilion of the 53rd Venice Biennale in 2009.

tag:www.nca-g.com,2010:/exhibition//1.236 2010-06-24T06:10:10Z 2010-07-18T00:34:32Z

tag:www.nca-g.com,2010:/news//3.281 2010-06-16T09:48:32Z 2010-06-17T09:16:41Z

H.P.FRANCE WINDOW GALLERY MARUNOUCHI ]]>

tag:www.nca-g.com,2010:/exhibition//1.274 2010-05-28T05:21:04Z 2010-06-29T09:02:39Z

Imhathai Suwattanasilp (Thailand) / Loukia Alavanou (Greece) / Mari Katayama (Japan) nca | nichido contemporary art is delighted to announce the sixth group exhibition, “identity, body it.” This exhibition is curated by Mr. Takashi Azumaya, an independent curator, under the theme of “Identity” from his point of view. Six international artists are featured in the exhibition. identity, body it. When I was selected as a guest curator for the “Identity” series of exhibitions, my first impulse was to organize a show featuring works by female artists only. Why did I want to introduce audiences to these works in particular (which, as a matter of fact, I also personally wanted to see)? The truth is, I’m not sure what the reason is myself. The “identity” theme in and of itself is not a particularly new one. Video, photography and other filming devices became much more affordable starting in the 1970s, which led countless numbers of artists to train their lenses on themselves and take “me” as their subject. What often came into question, however, was who this “me” really was. Particularly amid the flurry of postmodern discourse that emerged in the late 80s, while the art world was enamored with the idea of paying heed to the “little voices” with something to say, audiences developed the habit of looking not at the work itself, peering rather at the accompanying caption that furnished information about it. This was a time when the practice of looking at the work in light of the artist’s background came to prevail. Since the advent of the 21st century, however, the significance of this practice has been dwindling over the past few years, for a simple reason. Thanks to rapid advances in information technology – the spread of the Internet, to put it simply – the relationship between information and the identity of the person who transmits it has become uncertain. Should we believe in the validity of all this personal data about “me” that we find on Internet forums, social networking sites, video websites and cellphone novels? It’s dubious whether we are even single, unitary individuals anymore. What’s more, all those “little voices” that had no means of being heard in the last century – those of people facing persecution, or caught right in the middle of a conflict – are now easily accessible through videos uploaded onto the Internet. In another half century or so, the dissemination of information technologies that have emerged in the past few years will lead to a turning point in history, just like how technology brought about the Industrial Revolution. After this point, forms of artistic expression that derive their meaning and significance from the act of being present at the place where the work is located (or performed), such as fine art, theater and dance, will seem to be the least dynamic. What will stand out as a result, however, is the fact that these artworks or performative acts can be attributed indisputably to their creator. If I may make a confession: I cannot deny that the reason I have included only female artists in this exhibition is that I am a man who is interested in female attributes and properties – an interest that is something of a fetish, to put it another way. At the same time, I also have a deep respect for how these artists attempt to embody a certain “identity” while believing that their own bodies are inalienably theirs. The works of these artists, then, represent attempts to embody a sense of identity in the context of our time. No more need for relative criteria that determine who that “me” is. The search for identity in these works proceeds from a single, indisputable location – what “me” means to “me”. - Takashi Azumaya (Independent curator) Takashi Azumaya　 Born in Yokkaichi City, Mie Pref. Japan in 1968, Azumaya received his M .A. Painting from Tokyo University of the Arts in 1994. After working at Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo from 1994 to 1999, he has been working as an independent curator and a contributor to many well-known art magazines. His distinctive career includes a curatorial staff at Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery in 1999 and an associate curator at Mori Art Museum from 2003 to 2004. Above all, Azumaya participated in various projects in Japan and abroad such as "Yokohama 2001: International Triennale of the Contemporary Arts," "Media City Seoul 2002(commissioner)," "Busan Biennale 2008(curator)," etc. In current, artistic director of the Busan Biennale 2010. ]]>

tag:www.nca-g.com,2010:/news//3.279 2010-05-25T03:45:33Z 2010-05-27T03:51:24Z

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tag:www.nca-g.com,2010:/news//3.278 2010-05-06T02:52:39Z 2010-05-06T04:06:20Z

Bearing Witness]]>

tag:www.nca-g.com,2010:/news//3.275 2010-04-09T02:46:20Z 2010-04-09T04:24:03Z

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tag:www.nca-g.com,2010:/news//3.276 2010-04-08T02:27:44Z 2010-04-09T03:47:30Z

tag:www.nca-g.com,2010:/news//3.251 2010-03-31T07:06:41Z 2010-03-31T05:16:58Z

nca | nichido contemporary art features the works by Vik Muniz, Janaina Tschape, Nobuhiro Ishihara and Masahito Koshinaka etc.
For further information, please refer to the link below.
ART FAIR TOKYO]]>

tag:www.nca-g.com,2010:/news//3.273 2010-03-31T05:09:14Z 2010-04-09T06:06:20Z

www.townereastbourne.org.uk In addition, the review on the Observer can be found at the link below. www.guardian.co.uk ]]>

tag:www.nca-g.com,2010:/publication//5.253 2010-03-18T08:52:07Z 2010-03-18T08:59:47Z

tag:www.nca-g.com,2010:/news//3.248 2010-03-05T04:12:24Z 2010-03-11T09:58:36Z

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tag:www.nca-g.com,2010:/news//3.246 2010-03-04T06:28:50Z 2010-03-04T07:24:46Z

which runs from 6th March to 30th May at Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson, Arizona, USA.
For further information, please visit the website below.
MOCA Tucson]]>

tag:www.nca-g.com,2010:/news//3.244 2010-03-02T07:40:50Z 2010-03-02T07:52:27Z

"Restrain&Release" from 11th March to 16th May. For further information, please visit the website below.
Musee de Pully]]>

tag:www.nca-g.com,2010:/news//3.239 2010-02-24T06:28:51Z 2010-02-25T03:12:51Z

an art event at Hankyu Mens department store, Osaka. This event introduces emerging contemporary artists as well as live performances to the wider public whilst they enjoy shopping in the department store. Date: Wednesday 3rd - Sunday 14th March (Sun/Mon/Tue 10:00-20:00, Wed/Thu/Fri/Sat 10:00-21:00) Venue: Hankyu Mens department store, Osaka (tel: +81-6-6361-1381)]]>