Past Exhibitions
Sat, Dec 9, 2023 - Sun, Mar 31, 2024
The Towada Art Center is pleased to present LONELY PLANETS, the first solo museum exhibition by internationally acclaimed artist and filmmaker Yu ARAKI, from Saturday, December 9, 2023, to Sunday, March 31, 2024.
Having spent his youth moving between Japan and the United States, Yu Araki explores the nuances of language and culture, examining the mistranslations and misunderstandings that arise, as well as the dynamics between originals and copies and the power structures they reveal. His film and video works, which often employ a blend of documentary and animation, are known for their humorous yet insightful approach.
The exhibition’s title, LONELY PLANETS, was inspired by a misheard song lyric that resonated with Araki due to its similarity to the name of the globally recognized travel guidebook series. This title reflects Araki’s journey through Aomori and his experiences and encounters with the people, landscapes, and motifs that appear in the exhibition as if he were a traveler exploring unfamiliar territory. The exhibition showcases four new video works developed through Araki’s extensive research, alongside three past works (tentative). These pieces, like independent planets, each with their own orbits, coincidentally converge in the heart of winter in Towada, inviting viewers into one galaxy within Araki’s creative universe.
Yu Araki
Artist / filmmaker. Born in 1985, Araki graduated with a major in sculpture from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis in 2007, and received his master’s in Film and New Media Studies from Tokyo University of the Arts in 2010. Araki is fascinated by the transmission of culture and encounters between different cultures, and the possibilities he perceives in the mistranslations and misunderstandings that occur in the process. His recent video installations have been characterized by a particular focus on identifying discrepancies in the gap between historical events and fantasy, and exploring through the lens of reenactment, restage, and remake. Notable recent exhibitions and film festivals include Yebisu International Festival for Art and Alternative Visions 2023 Commission Project (Tokyo Photographic Art Museum), Home-Video Project: Tails Out (Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka, 2022), 31st Marseille International Film Festival (France, 2021), Connections: 150 years of Modern Art in Japan and France (Pola Museum of Art, Kanagawa, 2020), Le Souvenir du Japon (Shiseido Gallery, Tokyo, 2019), The Island of the Colorblind (Art Sonje Center, Korea, 2019), and 47th International Film Festival Rotterdam (Netherlands, 2018).
Title
Date
Location
Towada Art Center
Hours
9:00 – 17:00 (Last admission at 16:30)
Closed
Mondays (Except for National Holidays, in which case the art center will close the following day).
*Please check our website for the latest information.
Admission
1,800 yen
Under 18: free
Organized by
Towada Art Center
Endorsed by
Asahi Broadcasting Aomori Co., Ltd., Aomori Broadcasting
Corporation, Aomori Television Broadcasting Co., Ltd., Aomori
Fm Broadcasting, The Daily-Tohoku Shimbun Inc., The To-o Nippo
Press, and Towada City Board of Education
Curator
Nakagawa Chieko
2012/2023, HDV transferred on 16mm film
photo: Kenji Morita
Courtesy of the artist and MUJIN-TO Production
ALMOST DOWN
2020, installation view at Pola Museum of Art
photo: Ken Kato
Courtesy of the artist and MUJIN-TO Production
The Last Ball
2019, installation view at Shiseido Gallery
photo: Ken Kato
Courtesy of the artist and MUJIN-TO Production
