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Mitsuo Kim “Goodbye My Love”
Leesaya
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Artists
Mitsuo Kim
Mitsuo Kim was born in 1987 in Osaka, Japan. After completing graduate studies at Kyoto City University of Arts in 2012, he received the “VOCA Exhibition 2014” Encouragement Prize and the “Kyoto City Art Newcomer Prize”. Kim has been active in Japan and abroad, holding solo exhibitions at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, and in Taiwan. Last year, at his solo exhibition at Lee Saya, “Control Control”, he expressed his daily activities as an artist and a father with his own unique worldview.
Applying the technique of silkscreening, Kim fixes the image on a waxed panel. By applying heat to the transcribed images, he melts and crumbles them into a solidified form, projecting his own social instability and ambiguous situation as a foreigner born and raised in Japan.
This exhibition takes a fresh look at the artist’s own roots in order to consider where he is today. Kim’s mother came to Japan from the Korean Peninsula when she was five years old, just as many foreigners came to Japan during the war for reasons such as poverty. Kim grew up hearing stories from his mother. One of the episodes that left the strongest impression on Kim was as a little girl his mother holding tightly a cookie she had been given to eat during her family’s journey to Japan.
The title of the exhibition was chosen from the song “Goodbye My Love” by Anne Lewis, which Kim’s mother loved to listen to. The first verse of the song reminds Kim of the outbreak of the Korean War in 1948, and how his mother came to live in Japan, based on the song she loved.
At a time when society is becoming more tolerant of diversity and people of all races and nationalities can come and go freely, the issue of refugees and conflict still looms large as a global challenge. A variety of emotions that are shared by so many people today, such as social circles that are inexplicably connected and the thin reality of events in distant countries, can be seen in Kim’s work.
Applying the technique of silkscreening, Kim fixes the image on a waxed panel. By applying heat to the transcribed images, he melts and crumbles them into a solidified form, projecting his own social instability and ambiguous situation as a foreigner born and raised in Japan.
This exhibition takes a fresh look at the artist’s own roots in order to consider where he is today. Kim’s mother came to Japan from the Korean Peninsula when she was five years old, just as many foreigners came to Japan during the war for reasons such as poverty. Kim grew up hearing stories from his mother. One of the episodes that left the strongest impression on Kim was as a little girl his mother holding tightly a cookie she had been given to eat during her family’s journey to Japan.
The title of the exhibition was chosen from the song “Goodbye My Love” by Anne Lewis, which Kim’s mother loved to listen to. The first verse of the song reminds Kim of the outbreak of the Korean War in 1948, and how his mother came to live in Japan, based on the song she loved.
At a time when society is becoming more tolerant of diversity and people of all races and nationalities can come and go freely, the issue of refugees and conflict still looms large as a global challenge. A variety of emotions that are shared by so many people today, such as social circles that are inexplicably connected and the thin reality of events in distant countries, can be seen in Kim’s work.
Schedule | Sep 18 (Sat) 2021-Oct 10 (Sun) 2021 Opening Hours Information
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| Fee | Free | ||||||
| Website | https://leesaya.jp/exhibitions/leesaya-goodbye/ | ||||||
| Venue | Leesaya http://www.leesaya.jp/ | ||||||
| Location | 3-14-2 Shimomeguro, Meguro-Ku, Tokyo 153–0064 | ||||||
| Access | 7 minute walk from Fudomae Station on the Tokyu Meguro line. 20 minute walk from the Main exit of Meguro Station on the JR Yamanote, Namboku, Toei Mita or Tokyu Meguro line. | ||||||
| Phone | 03-6881-4389 | ||||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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