Chiho Aoshima “Rebirth of the World”

Kaikai Kiki Gallery

Finished

Artists

Chiho Aoshima

Born in Tokyo in 1974, Chiho Aoshima has received attention ever since her debut for her chromogenic and other printed works showcasing her astonishing command of Adobe Illustrator.　Despite her relative acclaim, exhibitions of Aoshima’s work have to date mostly taken place outside Japan, including showcases at the Museum of Contemporary Art Lyon and the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. Her first solo exhibition in Japan was presented this month in Kyoto. In the time between her debut and this long awaited presentation, Aoshima has expanded her range of expression to include hand-painted drawings, sculptures, and moving images. This exhibition will feature her recent digital animations, as well as a new interactive animation that is being created specifically for this occasion. Whilst thematically this is a touring exhibition, the lineup presented at our Tokyo space will be distinct from the previous shows in Seattle and Kyoto.
This new edition of Rebirth of the World is essentially composed of three main parts. In the first part, “Dialog with the Spiritual,” Aoshima’s universe is expressed temporally and spatially via the animated video installation City Glow. This will be the first time for this piece to be displayed at Kaikai Kiki Gallery, after having previously been featured in the 2011 reopening of America’s largest video and media museum, the Museum of the Moving Image. The exhibition then continues with Takaamanohara, a video installation which was praised by art critic Noi Sawaragi as “having reached a level of perfection beyond any of the artist’s past work.” Aoshima explains that “the piece was influenced by the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, as well as the reconstruction which took place in its aftermath”. Following natural disasters such as a tsunami and volcanic eruption, the viewer witnesses the return of life and exuberant growth. The piece is expressed on an almost mythical scale and can be experienced via projection on a wall greater than 10 meters wide and 2.5 meters high. Lastly, the interactive work to be featured in the exhibition is, like the other two pieces, once again being created in collaboration with New Zealand video artist Bruce Ferguson. In this work, the strange and fascinating characters created by Aoshima will communicate directly with the audience, summoning a fantastical environment within the walls of Kaikai Kiki Gallery.

Schedule

Jul 22 (Fri) 2016-Aug 18 (Thu) 2016