Lens (2007)
Courtesy Nishimura Gallery, Tokyo
© Kumi Machida
foto: Ikohiro Watanabe
Mountain (2006)
Courtesy Nishimura Gallery, Tokyo
© Kumi Machida
information on the exhibition
kumi machida
the art of japan
february 22 to may 12, 2008
The exhibition of the Japanese artist kumi machida (*1970) takes up the new tendency in contemporary Japanese art which reflects upon the artistic tradition and which is on the verge of a breakthrough in international perception. As a representative of the “next” generation, she completes our tripartite exhibition devoted to Japan with a view of the current goings-on in Japanese art.
Machida studied classical Nihonga painting (Japanese style) at Tama University in Tokyo and is considered to belong to the so-called Neo-Nihonga group which has distinguished itself in recent years by developing artistic traditions in a contemporary context. She occupies a position of prominence because her art goes further than simply integrating contemporary elements into classical formal principles or updating traditional formats with current pictorial types. She finds her artistic expression in an uncompromisingly reduced formal language which is defined by her extraordinary mastery of line. She focuses on the object of human relationships through radical abstractions. In so doing, she proceeds from everyday details and situations which lead to astounding pictorial inventions and which remain legible beyond the bounds of cultural confines. She utilizes traditional materials such as Kumohada linen paper, Sumi ink and paint based on mineral pigments. From a formal perspective, her linear brush drawings can be derived from the tradition of classical painting and calligraphy, but in terms of motifs she subverts the elegance and simplicity of traditional art with disturbing contents.
In Asia and especially in Japan, Kumi Machida is considered to be a rising star and has received numerous awards for her art, most recently the Sovereign Asian Art Prize in 2007. In 2006 she participated in the pioneering group exhibition No Borders: From Nihonga to Nihonga at the Museum for Contemporary Art in Tokyo which, after decades of a dominating presence by traditional Japanese artists and aesthetics (such as Murakami’s Superflat and Mara’s Manga, for example), identified this promising new trend.
Furthermore, her works stand in relation to Araki’s abstract photographs, with their detailed close-ups and intimate views, as well as to the handling of line and treatment of color in classical Japanese woodcuts.
The artist lives and works in Tokyo and will be present during the opening of the exhibition.
Accompanying the exhibition will be a catalogue.