Past Exhibitions
Sat, Oct 27, 2018 - Sun, Mar 24, 2019
Mohri Yuko is an installation artist who recasts recon gured everyday items to reveal intangible forms of energy, such as electricity and magnetism. In this, her first solo exhibition at a museum, she presented a new largescale, sound-based assemblage inspired by movements such as spirals, spins, and swirls as seen on different scales, such as in ammonites and multistranded wires and cables. Her works were symbolic of the orbit of celestial bodies, and, at the same time, revealed aspects of large social movements. The exhibition also included video and silkscreen print works as well as an improvised installation at a venue in the city center, created on site.
Photo image：Installation view from If sealed up inside a grave, at least be as quiet as a grave for V.T.
2018, photo by Kuniya Oyamada
Exhibition Preview
1. Brand New Installation
The artist will implement an unprecedented methodology to the exhibition space to form a new installation in pursuit of her image of what she calls an “eternal movement.”
2. Mohri’s Debut of a Large-Scale Sculpture in Japan
Her large-scale, sound-based assemblage will be shown in Japan for the first time.
3. Witness Mohri’s Art in Practice
In addition to her improvised installation, video, and print works, she will go beyond the museum to exhibit in downtown Towada. Viewers can experience the artist’s thought process as they navigate not only the exhibition spaces but also the city streets.
Yuko Mohri
Born in 1980 in Kanagawa, Japan, artist Yuko Mohri creates installations that hint at forces such as gravity, magnetism, and light. In 2015, she received a grant from the Asian Cultural Council for a six-month residency in New York.
She has participated in group shows including the Yokohama Triennale 2014 (Kanagawa), Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2016 (India), and the Biennale de Lyon 2017 (France). She has been named winner of Nissan Art Award 2015 Grand Prix, the Kanagawa Culture Award Culture and Future Prize in 2016, and the 67th Minister of Education Award for Fine Arts in 2017.
Message from the Artist
The other day I strolled from Lake Towada through Oirase Gorge. Massive boulders littered the valley floor, blocking the river and splitting waterfalls, torn from cliffs formed in an eruption over 200,000 years ago.
Trees and mushrooms grow among dense, bright green moss that covers the rocks. The rocks appear to stand still, but according to my guide, they have been in a constant state of motion, slowly rolling through the valley for hundreds of years. L ike a Rolling Stone played in super slow motion! Delicate bubbles form at places where enormous rocks resist the force of 5.2 tons of water rushing past every second.
Assume That There Is Friction and Resistance, held at the Towada Art Center, is my first solo exhibition at a museum.
In past works, I have channeled fluid states to produce artworks on movement and energy. Here I plan to make an all-new work with a particular focus on spirals and rotations, which, if we trace the history of modern art, have been the subjects of any number of artworks that include Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase, Vladimir Tatlin’s Monument to the Third International, Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty, and the sculptures of Tony Cragg.
I believe that creators must have thought about energy and movement in their modes of expression, many of which continue to roll on in the present day. I hope that this exhibition will be an exploration that contributes to this enduring discussion of energy and movement.
Title
Date
Location
Towada Art Center
Central Towada
Hours
9:00-17:00 (Last admission 30 minutes before closing)
Closed
Mondays
except for National Holidays, in which case the museum is open on the holiday and closed the following Tuesday
*Closed December 25, 2018 through January 1, 2019 for year-end holidays
Admission
Exhibition + Permanent Collection: 1,200 yen
Exhibition only: 800 yen
100 yen/ticket discount for groups of 20 or more
High school students and younger: Free
Organized by
Towada Art Center
Financial Support by
Asahi Group Arts Foundation
Endorsed by
To-o Nippo Press, The Daily-Tohoku Shimbun Inc., Aomori Broadcasting Cooperation, Aomori Television
Broadcasting Co., Ltd., Asahi Broadcasting Aomori Co., Ltd., & Towada City Board of Education
Curated by
Kodama Kanazawa
Moré Moré (Leaky) Variation #1 (2017–2018)
Sensory Agents (2018)
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre(New Plymouth)
Photo courtesy Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre
(Reference image)
Turning equipment, three veils.
Curatorial Studies 12: Fountain 1917 – 2017 Case 5: Dissémination (2018)
The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
Photo by Yuki Moriya
(Reference image)
Voluta (2018)
Voluta (2018)
Camden Arts Centre (London)
Photo by Damian Griffiths
Photo courtesy Camden Arts Centre
(Reference image)
Everything Flows: This is not Ocean (and I Did not Drink Beer) (2017)
Grey Skies(2017)
Fujisawa City Art Space (Kanagawa)
Photo by Ayumi Matsuura
Photo courtesy Fujisawa City Art Space
(Reference image)
Parade (2011–2017), Grey Skies (2017)
Grey Skies (2017)
Fujisawa City Art Space (Kanagawa)
Photo by Ayumi Matsuura
Photo courtesy Fujisawa City Art Space
(Reference image)
Parade (2011–2017), Japanorama (2017)
Centre Pompidou-Metz (Lyon)
Photo by Jacqueline Trichard
(Reference image)
polar-oid (o), Going Away Closer (2018)
Wifredo Lam Centre of Contemporary Art (Havana)
Photo by Luis Joa
(Reference image)
