Silence in the Light
9月15日（月・祝）17:00-19:00
Opening September 13, Wako Works of Art is very pleased to present a collaborative exhibition by Noritoshi Hirakawa, Hiroshi Sunairi and Arto Lindsay. First exhibited at Venetia Kapernekas Gallery in New York in early 2008, this exhibition will feature new works by the three artists that explore the human existence and condition.
Hirakawa’s photo series “In Reminiscence of the Sea” captures the landscape and lives around the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant facing the Sea of Enshu, off the central Pacific coast of Japan. Like many of Hirakawa’s photographs, the beautiful, poignant images are only a façade to the horror the lies beneath — in this case, the Fossa Magna fault line, which seismologist have long warned could cause a large earthquake, and politics that are involved in running a nuclear facility.
Sunairi’s sculptural installation “Elephant Dinner” is based on the Buddhist fable, “Parable of the Blind Men and the Elephant.”
When the blind men had felt the elephant, the raja went to each of them and said to each, ‘Well, blind man, have you seen the elephant? Tell me, what sort of thing is an elephant?’ “Thereupon the men who were presented with the head answered, ‘Sire, an elephant is like a pot.’ And the men who had observed the ear replied, ‘An elephant is like a winnowing basket.’ Those who had been presented with a tusk said it was a ploughshare. Those who knew only the trunk said it was a plough; others said the body was a grainery; the foot, a pillar; the back, a mortar; the tail, a pestle, the tuft of the tail, a brush. (Udana 68-69)
Like everyday objects, table ware, and furniture, ceramic elephant body parts are arranged on a table. This is a sequel installation to Sunairi’s most recent work, “White Elephant” presented at the Japan Society in New York. In “White Elephant,” Sunairi created a life-sized deconstructed elephant as a memorial for 9/11. “Elephant Dinner” also employs the same white ceramic medium, only this time, the abstraction of body parts are enhanced, projecting the idea of relativity expressed in the fable.
O how they cling and wrangle, some who claim
For preacher and monk the honored name!
For, quarreling, each to his view they cling.
Such folk see only one side of a thing. (Udana 68-69)
Lindsay was approached by Hirakawa to contribute lyrics for this exhibition. Never set to music, the lyrics printed and installed with the photographs and sculpture of Hirakawa and Sunairi are an inaudible reminder of the missing element of sound.
New series by Noritoshi Hirakawa will be exhibited at Nanzuka Underground from September 13 to October 12, 2008.
Opening reception: Saturday, September 13, 7-9PM
Cocktail party: Monday, September 15, 7:30-9:30PM
Noritoshi Hirakawa
Noritoshi Hirakawa has shown internationally in museum solo exhibitions including: Kunsthalle, Vienna, Austria (2003); Hermès Forum, Tokyo (2002); Magazin4, Vorarlberger Kunstverein, Bregenz, Austria (2001); Hiroshima Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan (1996); Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, Germany (1993); Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan (1989); and group exhibitions: Japan Society, New York (2007); Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea (2007); Kunsthalle Vienna, Austria (2006); PS1 Contemporary Art Center, New York; Kunst Werke, Berlin, (2006); and Museum Carouge, Geneva (2005).
Hiroshi Sunairi
Hiroshi Sunairi has presented visual and curatorial work internationally in museum exhibitions including a solo exhibition at Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan in 2005, and group exhibitions at Japan Society, New York (2007); Avanthay Contemporary, Zurich, Switzerland (2007): Kunst Rijksuniversiteit in Groningen, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2002); Barbican Art center, London, England (2001); Staller Center at Stony Brook University (2001); Voralberger Kunstverein, Bregenz, Austria (2000); Ursula Blicke Stiftung, in Kraichtal, Germany (2000); Aktionsforum, Parterinsel, Munich, Germany (2000). Sunairi has also exhibited his work and performed in leading galleries and nonprofit spaces in New York City, such as: Andrew Kreps Gallery (2001), PS1 (1999), Exit Art (1999), Jack Tilton Gallery (1999), American Fine Arts (1997), Thread Waxing Space (1996), Holly Solomon Gallery (1996), and Knitting Factory (1996).
Arto Lindsay
Arto Lindsay, born in the United States and raised in Brazil. An avant garde vocalist/songwriter/producer and sound artist, Lindsay has collaborated with German theater director Heiner Muller, Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, American multidisciplinary artist Vito Acconci and British producer/conceptualist Brian Eno, in addition to Hirakawa and Sunairi on past projects.