Programs

03c

Main Program

Tomoko Konoike
Go Ashore
Main Program

2017
Left and right legs each 2.5 x 1.5 x 1.25m
Mixed media, FRP

[Date]
May 10 (Wed) – 28 (Sun), 10:00-18:00
*Part of the early viewing exhibition program
*Open from 10:00-20:00 on Fridays, Saturdays
*Closed on Tuesdays
May 27 (Sat) 10:00 - 28 (Sun) 18:00
[Place]
The National Art Center, Tokyo
[Participation fee]
Free
Konoike perceives the legs as vehicles that move. A model resembling people that have only a head and legs, figures which appear once in childhood drawings, are the main characters of the early picture book "Mimio" (2001). They have been repeatedly incorporated in different forms, such as a hybrid of a small insect and a girl's leg. Because the leg is a fundamental means of locomotion, it also symbolizes the strength that transcends the boundaries of human classification and systematization. On the other hand, Go Ashore, in which the majestic antlers of an elk and the luscious legs of a woman are smoothly connected, has a remarkable rich sensuality that encourages the birth of life. The first version in 2017, which was destroyed by a typhoon, was installed at the northernmost cliff of the Noto Peninsula, the boundary between the sea and the land, so to speak. It is associated with the long process of evolution in which life that was nurtured in the sea eventually rises to land.

ARTISTS

Tomoko Konoike

Tomoko Konoike continues to question the fundamentals of art through a variety of media including painting, sculpture, and performance, as well as site-specific expressions realized through travel.
Recent solo exhibitions include Fundamental Violence (2016), Kanagawa Prefectural Hall, The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma / Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Art Encouragement Prize; Fur Story (2018), Leeds Arts University; Hunter Gatherer (2018), Akita Museum of Modern Art, Japan; Chukagari (2020), Artizon Museum / Mainichi Art Prize; Birth of Miru (2022), Takamatsu City Museum of Art.
Group exhibitions include Temporal Turn (2016), Spencer Museum of Art / University of Kansas Museum of Natural History; Japan-Spirits of Nature (2017), Nordic Akbar Museum of Art; ECHOES FROM THE PAST (2018), Sinka Art Museum; Story-makers (2022), Japanese Cultural Centre Sydney. Her publications include Animal Words and picture books (Hatori Shoten).