Borrowed Landscapes
Blum & Poe
Finished
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Artists
Friedrich Kunath, Masayoshi Nakamura, Kenjiro Okazakil, Akane Saijo, Magdalena Skupinska, Daichi Takagi
The floor-to-ceiling glass window of Blum & Poe’s Tokyo outpost defies the blank slate of the standard white cube. The art presented in the space- with its sweeping views of the forest surrounding the main shrine buildings of Meiji Jingu- is always in conversation with the natural world beyond the gallery’s walls. While some exhibitions may passively engage this external landscape, making it merely a backdrop that changes with the seasons, Borrowed Landscapes draws the exterior inward- recontextualizing the greenery of Meiji Jingu’s inner garden as a focal point in the exhibition, leaning into the art historical tradition of the landscape as a uniquely personal expression, and visually expanding upon the philosophy that inspired Dr. Seiroku Honda while he led the forest’s planting.
Work on the man-made forest began in 1915. The park has been allowed to grow relatively untouched ever since. Approximately 100,000 trees from all over Japan were donated and planted. Each tree was intended as a vessel for Shinto beliefs, wherein divinity is attributed equally to all items within the natural world. Before beginning this project, Dr. Seiroku Honda completed his studies at the world’s first-ever forestry school in Tharandt, near Dresden, Germany. Here, he would have encountered the persisting ideals of German Romanticism—rejecting industrialism and urbanism while emphasizing the “beautiful” or the “sublime.” The work presented in this exhibition reflects facets of the park’s philosophies- its commingling of the different modes of reverence for nature that are paramount in environmentally centered ideologies such as Shinto and Romanticism.
Work on the man-made forest began in 1915. The park has been allowed to grow relatively untouched ever since. Approximately 100,000 trees from all over Japan were donated and planted. Each tree was intended as a vessel for Shinto beliefs, wherein divinity is attributed equally to all items within the natural world. Before beginning this project, Dr. Seiroku Honda completed his studies at the world’s first-ever forestry school in Tharandt, near Dresden, Germany. Here, he would have encountered the persisting ideals of German Romanticism—rejecting industrialism and urbanism while emphasizing the “beautiful” or the “sublime.” The work presented in this exhibition reflects facets of the park’s philosophies- its commingling of the different modes of reverence for nature that are paramount in environmentally centered ideologies such as Shinto and Romanticism.
Schedule | May 13 (Sat) 2023-Jun 24 (Sat) 2023 Opening Hours Information
Opening Reception May 13 (Sat) 2023 17:00 - 19:00 | ||||
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| Fee | Free | ||||
| Website | https://www.blumandpoe.com/exhibitions/borrowed_landscapes | ||||
| Venue | Blum & Poe http://blumandpoe.com/ | ||||
| Location | 5F Harajuku Jingu-no-mori, 1-14-34 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku , Tokyo 150-0001 | ||||
| Access | 1 minute walk from the Takeshita exit of Harajuku Station on the JR Yamanote line, 2 minute walk from exit 2 at Meiji-jingumae Station on the Chiyoda and Fukutoshin lines. | ||||
| Phone | 03-3475-1631 |
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