OUT OF DOUBT: ROPPONGI CROSSING 2013

Press Release vol.1

APRIL 12, 2013

Mori Art Museum 10th Anniversary Exhibition

OUT OF DOUBT: Roppongi Crossing 2013

SEPTEMBER 21, 2013 (FRI) JANUARY 13, 2014 (Sun) MORI ART MUSEUM (53f, roppongi hills mori tower)

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of its inauguration, Mori Art Museum is pleased to present OUT OF DOUBT: Roppongi Crossing 2013 from Saturday, September 21, 2013 to Monday, January 13, 2014. Staged by the Mori Art Museum triennially since 2004, Roppongi Crossing is a series designed to offer a comprehensive survey of the Japanese contemporary art scene. For the 4th edition, and the rst time in the series, 2 young guest curators from overseas have been invited to join the Mori Art Museum curator in co-organizing an exhibition that examines Japanese contemporary art today from a global perspective. The title of the exhibition, OUT OF DOUBT, raises questions concerning the kind of productive debate we can generate from doubts cast over accepted notions and existing systems at a time when social awareness is high in the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. The exhibition will feature around 30 artists, focusing on those born from the 1970s throug h the 1980s, although in the interests of re-examining Japan historically, an attempt will also be made to cross generations and engage with artists who have been the driving forces behind Japanese post-war avant-garde art. And by not limiting the scope in a geographical sense to Japan, but rather actively broadening its horizons to include expatriate Japanese artists and artists of Japanese descent, the exhibition will also examine the cultural boundaries of Japan. As well, in conjunction with the exhibition-related program Discursive Platform, we will cooperate with young groups and others, that are exploring new relationships between art and society in facilitating and making their discussion public via the OUT OF DOUBT exhibition. 10 years have passed since the inauguration of the Mori Art Museum. In a world that continues to change dramatically, we hope that this exhibition will not only throw into relief the current state of Japanese contemporary art but also provide the impetus for opening up new possibilities into the future.
Kaneuji Teppei Ghost in the Liquid Room (lenticular) #1 * 2012 lenticular, reection sheet, wood 180 x 180 cm Courtesy: ShugoArts, Tokyo *: referential only

press release

Press Contact Details: Ms. Machino, Ms. Taki, Ms. Shinagawa, Ms. Kiriki Public Relations, Mori Art Museum Tel: +81-(0)3-6406-6111 Fax: +81-(0)3-6406-9351 E-mail: pr@mori.art.museum Web: www.mori.art.museum

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OUT OF DOUBT: ROPPONGI CROSSING 2013

Press Release vol.1

APRIL 12, 2013

Participating Artists
Akasegawa Genpei Akira Akira Arai Takashi Arakawa Ei+Minamikawa Shimon Asakai Yoko Chiba Masaya Endo Ichiro Simon Fujiwara Iwata Sohei Prominority Izumi Taro Kaneuji Teppei Kazama Sachiko Kobayashi Fumiko Koizumi Meiro Mitsuta Haruo Mori Chihiro Nakahira Takuma Nakamura Hiroshi Nakamura Yuta Niwa Yoshinori Okumura Yuki Ryui Koji Sasamoto Aki Shitamichi Motoyuki Suga Kishio Tajima Mika Takasaka Masato Yanagi Yukinori

[in alphabetical order of the artists (sur)names]

Born 1937 in Kanagawa, lives and works in Tokyo Born 1981 in Hyogo, lives and works in Australia Born 1978 in Kanagawa, lives and works in Kanagawa Born 1977 in Fukushima, lives and works in U.S. (AE) Born 1972 in Tokyo, lives and works in Tokyo (MS) Born 1974 in Tokyo, lives and works in Tokyo Born 1980 in Akita, lives and works in Kanagawa Born 1979 in Shizuoka, lives and works in a car, Go for Future Born 1982 in U.K., lives and works in Germany / Mexico Born 1979 in Wakayama, lives and works in Tokyo (IS) Formed in 2012, active in Tokyo and West Bengal, India (Prominority) Born 1976 in Nara, lives and works in Tokyo Born 1978 in Kyoto, lives and works in Kyoto Born 1972 in Tokyo, lives and works in Tokyo Born 1977 in Tokyo, lives and works in Tokyo Born 1976 in Gunma, lives and works in Kanagawa Born 1980 in Tottori, lives and works in Ibaraki Born 1978 in Osaka, lives and works in Tokyo Born 1938 in Tokyo, lives and works in Kanagawa Born 1932 in Shizuoka, lives and works in Tokyo Born 1983 in Tokyo, lives and works in Kyoto Born 1982 in Aichi, lives and works in Tokyo Born 1978 in Aomori, lives and works in Belgium Born 1976 in Kyoto, lives and works in Australia Born 1980 in Kanagawa, lives and works in U.S. Born 1978 in Okayama, lives and works in Aichi Born 1944 in Iwate, lives and works in Shizuoka Born 1975 in U.S., lives and works in U.S. Born 1977 in Australia, lives and works in Australia Born 1959 in Fukuoka, lives and works in Hiroshima

General Information
Organizer: Mori Art Museum Curated by: Kataoka Mami (Chief Curator, Mori Art Museum), Reuben Keehan (Curator of Asian Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery Gallery of Modern Art), Gabriel Ritter (Assistant Curator, Dallas Museum of Art) Venue: Mori Art Museum, 53F, Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo Open Hours: 10:00-22:00 Tue: 10:00-22:00 * Admission until 30 minutes before closing. * Open everyday. Admissions: Adult: 1,500 / University/highschool student: 1,000 / Child (4 years to junior highschool student): 500 * All prices include tax. * Ticket also valid for Tokyo City View observation deck (excludes Sky Deck). * Additional entrance fee to the Sky Deck is required. Tel: +81-(0)3-5777-8600 (Hello Dial)

press release

Press Contact Details: Ms. Machino, Ms. Taki, Ms. Shinagawa, Ms. Kiriki Public Relations, Mori Art Museum Tel: +81-(0)3-6406-6111 Fax: +81-(0)3-6406-9351 E-mail: pr@mori.art.museum Web: www.mori.art.museum

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OUT OF DOUBT: ROPPONGI CROSSING 2013

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Key Points of OUT OF DOUBT: Roppongi Crossing 2013 Exhibition

(1) First-ever Roppongi Crossing series collaboration with overseas curators

For Roppongi Crossing 2013, 4th in its series of exhibitions, in order to gain a global perspective on the status of Japanese contemporary art, two overseas curators Reuben Keehan (b. 1976, Queensland Art Gallery Gallery of Modern Art) and Gabriel Ritter (b. 1980, Dallas Museum of Art) both in their 30s and both wellversed in the Japanese art scene will join with Mori Art Museum Chief Curator Kataoka Mami to organize the show.

(2) Attempt at facilitating dialogue between the artists born in the 1970s and '80s, and those of the generation that experienced Japanese art in the postwar years.
In post-quake Japan, the realness of expression from the period spanning Japan's postwar revival to the 1960s, during which social systems and values were themselves undergoing a seismic upheaval, seems to resonate especially. Most of the OUT OF DOUBT artists were born in the 1970s and '80s, but through their dialogue with those of a different generation, we will gain new insight into the present day. Examples will include juxtaposing work by Nakamura Hiroshi (b. 1932), part of the reportage painting movement of the 1950s, and that of Kazama Sachiko (b. 1972).

Nakamura Hiroshi Island 1956 Oil on canvas 130 x162 cm Collection: Hamamatsu Municipal Museum of Art

Kazama Sachiko Alas! Heisoku-kan (Raging Battle-ship the Dead-End) * 2012 Woodcut print (panel, Japanese paper, sumi ink) 181 x 418 cm Photo: Miyajima Kei Courtesy: Mujin-to Production, Tokyo

*: referential only

(3) Actively introducing expatriate Japanese artists and artists of Japanese descent, including some exhibiting in Japan for the rst time.
By targeting artists of Japanese descent either resident or born overseas, OUT OF DOUBT will step outside Japan as a geographical or political framework to expand the idea of Japan as a culture. Examples include Takasaka Masato, Ryui Koji, and Akira Akira from Australia, and Tajima Mika, Sasamoto Aki, and Arakawa Ei, from New York. Exhibiting artists will include those making their Japanese debut as well.
Takasaka Masato Return to Forever (Productopia) * 2009 Cardboard, wood, plastic, MDF, acrylic, paint, paper, soft-drink cans, tape and discarded product packaging Dimensions variable Installation view: Cubism and Australian Art, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne Photo: John Brash

press release

Press Contact Details: Ms. Machino, Ms. Taki, Ms. Shinagawa, Ms. Kiriki Public Relations, Mori Art Museum Tel: +81-(0)3-6406-6111 Fax: +81-(0)3-6406-9351 E-mail: pr@mori.art.museum Web: www.mori.art.museum

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(4) OUT OF DOUBT will consider the critical stance on the relationship between art and society, from historical and political perspectives.
The exhibition will consider the relationship between art and society through the works of, among others, Nakamura Hiroshi, part of the 1950s reportage painting movement leading up to Kanko Geijutsu ( Sightseeing Art ); Yanagi Yukinori, who since the globalization of the 1990s has taken a consistently critical stance on capitalism and modern values; and among the younger generation, gures such as Koizumi Meiro and Arai Takashi. Meanwhile, artists such as Akasegawa Genpei, Izumi Taro and Niwa Yoshinori that attempt to overturn existing values by using satirical and nonsensical expressions cast various perspectives.
Yanagi Yukinori Eurasia 2001 Installation Ant, colored sand, plastic box, plastic tube and plastic pipe 235.0 x 594.5 cm (25.0 x 36.5 cm / each, 91 pieces altogether)

(5) A fresh look at the ancient Japanese views of nature and invisible energies.
Amid today's conscious fear of the superhuman power of nature, and awareness of environmental changes on a global scale, OUT OF DOUBT will reconsider the meaning of modernization, taking as a departure point traditional Japanese views of nature, animist beliefs and so on. Examples will include the relationship between form, space and process etc. as seen in the practice of leading Mono-ha artist Suga Kishio; Iwata Sohei Prominority, who contemplate the meaning of modernization mainly through their work with ethnic minority groups in India; and Nakamura Yuta, who thinks specically about ceramics through the social history of tiles.
Suga Kishio Linked Space * 2010 Wire, cement 220 x 323 cm Installation View: Gallery 604, Busan Photo: Sato Tsuyoshi Iwata Sohei Prominority House of Adivasi * 2010

*: referential only

(6) Attempt at relativizing recent Western interest in postwar Japanese art and global interest in performative practice, process, and post-object art.
Amid growing international interest in postwar Japanese art such as Gutai and Mono-ha, on the global art scene, attention is increasingly shifting away from works that are mono i.e., things in their completed form, to the likes of performative practice, the predominance of the production process, and expression that transcends the object. OUT OF DOUBT will explore the correlations between these, focusing primarily on the practice of overseas-based artists.
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Tajima Mika The Extras * 2009 Wood, canvas, acrylic paint, silkscreen, mirrored aluminum, wood, paper, plexiglas, MDF, spray enamel, video monitor, formica, glass, lights 152.4 x 243.8 x 213.4 cm Photo: Jason Mandella Courtesy: Sculpture Center, New York

Press Contact Details: Ms. Machino, Ms. Taki, Ms. Shinagawa, Ms. Kiriki Public Relations, Mori Art Museum Tel: +81-(0)3-6406-6111 Fax: +81-(0)3-6406-9351 E-mail: pr@mori.art.museum Web: www.mori.art.museum

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EXHIBITION OUTLINE
Staged by the Mori Art Museum once every 3 years since 2004, Roppongi Crossing is a series designed to offer a comprehensive survey of the Japanese contemporary art scene. The 4th in the series, Roppongi Crossing 2013, coincides with the 10th anniversary of the inauguration of the Mori Art Museum, and as such, in addition to looking back over the last 3 to 4 years, it seeks to examine from various perspectives the extent to which it is possible to position and relativize Japanese contemporary art both amidst broader historical and social contexts and vis--vis an increasingly global international art scene. The title of the exhibition, OUT OF DOUBT, raises questions concerning the kind of productive debate we can generate from doubts cast over existing systems and vested interests, including all manner of social systems and information media as well as the political system and social conventions that have been in place since Japan s modernization, at a time when social awareness is high in the wake of the anarchic situation in the immediate aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake in which no one seemed in control. The title is also ambiguous, since it can be interpreted as referring to something arising from doubts or the state of clarity that arises when doubts are dispelled. The Japanese subtitle of the exhibition, kitarubeki fukei no tameni ( For a Landscape to Come ) derives from Nakahira Takuma's 1970 photo book, For a Language to Come . Through his photography, Nakahira has consistently asked searching questions about the relationship between the world and himself, and the form art and photography should take. For Nakahira, the landscape took the form of a world, environments, cities, and even social systems that needed to be confronted. Nakahira talks of urban rebellion, by which he means an unlimited personal act of aggression against the landscape, but today, when this landscape is collapsing and very much subject to doubt, we would like to use this exhibition as an opportunity to question, over and yet again, the meaning of this statement. For the first time in the series, 2 young curators from overseas have been invited to work on Roppongi Crossing, with Reuben Keehan ( Curator of Contemporary Asian Art, Queensland Art Gallery Gallery of Modern Art) and Gabriel Ritter (Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art, Dallas Museum of Art) joining Mori Art Museum Chief Curator Kataoka Mami as co-curators. This edition will feature around 30 artists. In generational terms, the focus will be on artists born from the 1970s through the '80s, although in the interests of reexamining Japan historically, an attempt will also be made to engage with artists from key movements in postwar Japanese art who, viewed from the perspective of rather young artists above mentioned, seem critically real. As well, by not limiting the area of activity of the artists in a geographical sense to Japan, but rather actively broadening our horizons to include expatriate Japanese artists and artists of Japanese descent, we will also examine the cultural boundaries of Japan. The participating artists are chosen in line with a number of loosely defined contexts determined by considering Japanese contemporary art from the kinds of perspectives outlined above and in light of post-war history, modern history, the ancient Japanese view of nature, and global trends. 1) Revisiting social and historical contexts Amid renewed questioning of the values that underpin society and the involvement and participation of the individual in society, we will explore the extent to which light and dark aspects of the major upheavals and changes in Japanese society that occurred in the transition from the post-war reconstruction to the period of rapid economic growth in the 1960s and '70s, and globalization since the 1990s have been reflected in artistic practice, with a particular focus on how people today view the relevant historical and political contexts. After looking at such examples as 1950s reportage paintings to 1990s critiques of the global economy, we will

Translation by Franz K. Prichard, 2010.

press release

Press Contact Details: Ms. Machino, Ms. Taki, Ms. Shinagawa, Ms. Kiriki Public Relations, Mori Art Museum Tel: +81-(0)3-6406-6111 Fax: +81-(0)3-6406-9351 E-mail: pr@mori.art.museum Web: www.mori.art.museum

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consider the extent to which artists today are attempting to set up a dialogue between the past and the present. Furthermore, we will also attempt to set up a dialogue in an art historical context involving artists from different generations. 2) Nonsense We will also focus on the lineage of nonsense as it pertains to art, which is underpinned by the decadent and rebellious spirit of modern Japan that has been the driving force behind contemporary Japanese popular culture. This overlaps with the indirect critical attitude towards historical and social contexts mentioned above, but here we will question the effectiveness today of methods of overturning shared values, such as those in which appeals to the masses were made using absurdity and irrationality, as seen in the ero-guro nansensu ( erotic, grotesque, nonsense) art of the 1930s and the avant-garde art of the 1960s, for example. 3) The Japanese view of nature and invisible energy In the wake of the 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami, issues surrounding the Fukushima Nuclear Plant in particular have highlighted the ineffectiveness of progressivist values based on rationality and the prioritizing of economics, while at the same time one could also say they have aroused an awareness of the invisible world as alluded to in the ancient Japanese view of nature and religious beliefs. Such views are consistent with a monistic view of the world that strives for a balance between mutually opposing energies, and represent the very values Japan and the rest of Asia can offer the world today. Here we will re-explore these perspectives by focusing on such things as the Mono-ha movement of the late 1960s and beyond, the technical / craft aspects that continue to be a feature of Japanese art, and the uidity discernable in sculptural expression. 4) Post-object The focus on the non-material, non-fixed values of artworks is also consistent with the trend towards performative practice and post-object expression discernable in the global art scene in recent years. The worldwide attention directed towards movements such as Mono-ha and Gutai is probably also related to this current. As well, we will seek to consider the practice of artists based outside Japan and the relativization of tendencies observable inside Japan from this perspective. Attention will also be given to discussions concerning such things as process and product, visual expression and performativity, and the effectiveness of repeatability and re-creation. All the above are intricately intermeshed and find expression amidst a state of antagonism in the practices of the participating artists. Accordingly, rather than being classied as representative of one or another of these perspectives, the selected artists will be presented in such a way that their expression gives rise to a spatial, visual, and conceptual dialogue within the actual exhibition space. 10 years have passed since the inauguration of the Mori Art Museum. Amid today's rapidly changing global political, social, and economic positions and relationships, where is Japanese contemporary art, and what will be demanded of it in the next 10 or 20 years? We sincerely hope that OUT OF DOUBT: Roppongi Crossing 2013 will not only throw into relief the current state of Japanese contemporary art but also serve as a platform of sorts for discussions that will continue into the future.
Press images are available on our website: https://mam-media.com/en/press-img/ The images marked with an asterisk (*) after the work title on this Press Release are only referential, and not of the work that are to be actually exhibited.

press release

Press Contact Details: Ms. Machino, Ms. Taki, Ms. Shinagawa, Ms. Kiriki Public Relations, Mori Art Museum Tel: +81-(0)3-6406-6111 Fax: +81-(0)3-6406-9351 E-mail: pr@mori.art.museum Web: www.mori.art.museum

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