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Go Watanabe "Face"
Urano
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Artists
Go Watanabe
Born in 1975 in Hyogo Prefecture, Watanabe’s work until now has consisted of books that are completely blank other than a few pages, and portraits of female models with completely white make-up and hair.
In recent years he has developed these works even further to create the ‘Face (Portrait)’ series, composed of backlit photographs and 3D computer graphics. Made by overlaying the image of a real person’s face (skin) onto a 3D face that he has created on a computer, printed out on semi-transparent film and then mounted onto lightboxes, these works confront the viewer with a strong sense of existence and yet at the same time a completely opposing sense of incomprehensibility. These young women who stare out with their large eyes, while being completely devoid of individuality, shine out a pure white light, radiating something akin to divinity.
This ‘something’ is not just a form of anonymity that defies interpretation, but something that cannot be labeled as either human or object, something that makes one feel the realm of the unsignifiable, something that belongs neither to the viewer nor the viewed object, but gives existence to both, something that seems to float on the autonomous surface of a boundary line. To put it in words, it is in this ‘face’ that Watanabe finds meaning. (The exhibition title in Japanese, kyomen, is a constructed word made up of the characters for ‘boundary’ and ‘face’).
The self, the world, people, life – one can say that there are all kinds of ‘boundaries’ that man considers, demarcates, fights over and wanders over. This behavior moves in step with the advance of technology, not least the science of cloning, and is becoming a more and more complicated and serious problem that we face. The ‘faces’ engendered in Watanabe’s work are a powerful magnetic field, making us stand once again on these ‘boundaries’ – they have an urgent, powerful impact on our way of thinking.
Opening Reception: September 15th (Sat) 18:00 - 20:00
In recent years he has developed these works even further to create the ‘Face (Portrait)’ series, composed of backlit photographs and 3D computer graphics. Made by overlaying the image of a real person’s face (skin) onto a 3D face that he has created on a computer, printed out on semi-transparent film and then mounted onto lightboxes, these works confront the viewer with a strong sense of existence and yet at the same time a completely opposing sense of incomprehensibility. These young women who stare out with their large eyes, while being completely devoid of individuality, shine out a pure white light, radiating something akin to divinity.
This ‘something’ is not just a form of anonymity that defies interpretation, but something that cannot be labeled as either human or object, something that makes one feel the realm of the unsignifiable, something that belongs neither to the viewer nor the viewed object, but gives existence to both, something that seems to float on the autonomous surface of a boundary line. To put it in words, it is in this ‘face’ that Watanabe finds meaning. (The exhibition title in Japanese, kyomen, is a constructed word made up of the characters for ‘boundary’ and ‘face’).
The self, the world, people, life – one can say that there are all kinds of ‘boundaries’ that man considers, demarcates, fights over and wanders over. This behavior moves in step with the advance of technology, not least the science of cloning, and is becoming a more and more complicated and serious problem that we face. The ‘faces’ engendered in Watanabe’s work are a powerful magnetic field, making us stand once again on these ‘boundaries’ – they have an urgent, powerful impact on our way of thinking.
Opening Reception: September 15th (Sat) 18:00 - 20:00
Schedule | Sep 15 (Sat) 2007-Oct 20 (Sat) 2007 Opening Hours Information
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| Fee | Free | ||||
| Venue | Urano https://urano.tokyo  | ||||
| Location | 3F Terrada Art Complex, 1-33-10 Higashi Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 140-0002 | ||||
| Access | 8 minute walk from Tennozu Isle Station on the Tokyo Monorail or Rinkai line. From JR Shinagawa station, take the Toei bus (towards Yashio Park Town), and get off at Tennouzubashi. The venue is 3 minute walk from there. | ||||
| Phone | 03-6433-2303 | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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