ARCHIVED Yoi Kawakubo and Nao Matsunaga: Time Capsule – Artists’ Talk
Date
Friday 3 May 2024
Time
7.00pm
Venue
Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix
19 Goulston St
London
E1 7TP
The basement gallery is accessible via stairs only. If you require special assistance, please contact in advance on events@japansociety.org.uk or 020 3075 1996.
Booking Details
Booking essential - Free
Please note that spaces are limited and so early booking is recommended.
The Japan Society welcomes members and friends to an artists’ talk to coincide with the exhibition Yoi Kawakubo and Nao Matsunaga: Time Capsule at Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix.
The exhibition introduces the work of two contrasting Japanese contemporary artists, Yoi Kawakubo and Nao Matsunaga, whose works encompass photography, ceramics and works on paper. They explore the memory of the past within media, transporting the audience through time, from past, to the present and into the future.
Yoi Kawakubo's photographic series, 'If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the skies’, encourages viewers to reflect on the intricate relationship between nuclear technology, environmental impact, and the artistic process. The title was drawn from the Hindu holy text Bhagavad Gita and quoted by Robert Oppenheimer, who led the Manhattan project. The prints were enlarged from film buried near the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant following the 2011 earthquake and the hues of the images resulted from factors such as intense radiation, humidity, and even fungi at each burial site.
Matsunaga, on the other hand, presents his works as authentic documentation of actions, dispositions and circumstances. Highlighting the importance of physicality in the creative process, Matsunaga's instinctive method entails precise actions such as slap-building, muscle engagement, and limitations imposed by material characteristics. Individual actions or their absence become integral to the artistic awareness.
The artists will discuss the work on show and the talk will be moderated by Nick Yu, Public Programme Curator at Asymmetry Art Foundation, who is specialised in contemporary Asian art.
This is a great opportunity to hear about the creative process from the artists themselves. Attendees are welcome to stay and view the works closely and for casual conversation with the artists over sake.
Yoi Kawakubo (Toledo, 1979, lives and works between London and Tokyo) obtained a BA in Human Sciences at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. Following his time working as a financial market trader, Kawakubo embarked on his artistic career in 2008.
In Kawakubo's spatial installations based on historical research and references to literature, all topics are complexly interconnected through his personal experience. He works in a wide range of media, including photography, architectural intervention, video and even perfumes and cocktails. Some of his recurring themes extend to examinations of the nature of finances, nuclear power, genetics or land property.
Kawakubo’s forthcoming solo exhibition at Maruki Gallery for the Hiroshima Panels, Saimata, Japan is scheduled for 2025. Recent solo exhibitions include Quo Artis Foundation, Barcelona (2022), Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix (2018), Koganecho Site-A, Yokohama (2017), Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, London (2016), Shiseido Gallery, Tokyo (2015). Public collections include Ohara Museum of Art, Arts Council Tokyo, Development Bank of Japan, Hiroshima Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo University of the Arts
Nao Matsunaga (Osaka, 1980, lives and works in London) trained at the University of Brighton before completing an MA in Ceramics and Glass at the Royal College of Art. He makes strange and elusive sculptures and works on paper often inspired by ceremonial objects and spaces. He works with dualities and contradictions that include the use of clay with wood, juxtapositions of matt surface and runs of glassy glaze, and a mix of organic and geometric elements. His practice speaks of enduring human concerns and personal and collective experience.
Matsunaga has exhibited widely and completed a six-month ceramics residency at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2014, where he is included in the public collection. Other residencies include Cove Park, Scotland in 2010, National Academy of Art, Oslo in 2015, and LaunchPad LaB, France in 2021. He was a finalist of the Jerwood Makers Open in 2012 and won the British Ceramics Biennial Award in 2013. His recent solo shows include: Komagome Soko, Tokyo, Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix (2022), Token Art Center, Tokyo (2020), and Marsden Woo, London (2020, 2017, 2015, 2011), New Arts Centre, Salisbury (2019, 2017), Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, London (2012).
Nick Yu is curator, writer and researcher, who is currently Public Programme Curator at London-based non-profit Asymmetry Art Foundation. Previously, Yu was associate director at Hong Kong’s Blindspot Gallery for nearly seven years until 2023. He oversaw the gallery grow from strength to strength, assisting in developing a largely photography-focused and image-based collection into one highlighting the diversity of mediums in contemporary Asian art. His most recent curatorial projects at Blindspot include Soy Dreams of Milk in 2022, a group exhibition of six East Asian artists exploring the complex experiences of migration and diaspora through the endemic Asian crop of soy.
Yoi Kawakubo and Nao Matsunaga: Time Capsule runs until 10 May at Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix. You can read the full press release on the exhibition here.
Images: Time Capsule installation view, Alexander Christie
If you have any questions, please call The Japan Society office on 020 3075 1996 or email events@japansociety.org.uk.
Co-organised with Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix