Mariko Mori Intersects Nature, Ancient Culture, and Technology
Streaming Museum is pleased to present Mariko Mori’s “Primal Rhythm” and selections of artwork from her solo exhibition at Japan Society (333 East 47th St, New York City) October 11, 2013 to January 12, 2014. In collaboration with curator Miwako Tezuka, director of Japan Society Gallery, Mariko Mori designed the exhibition to invite visitors to a journey through immersive environments, which reflects prehistoric view on the birth of the life force; the present-day rupture of humankind from nature; and the potential for the reemergence of creative energy.
According to Mori, “This work is designed to unite the celestial and the terrestrial. It will be a lasting testimony that pays respect to the natural beauty of our surroundings on earth.”
Mori draws inspiration from the intersection of nature and technology. She says, “I would like to reintroduce ancient culture to contemporary life in order to reconnect with nature.”
IMAGE GALLERY
SELECTIONS FROM “REBIRTH” AT JAPAN SOCIETY
Ring, 2012. Lucite; 48 inches diam., 2 2/5 inches thick. © Faou Foundation, New York. Courtesy of SCAI THE BATHOUSE, Tokyo and Sean Kelly, New York. Photo © Royal Academy of Arts, London/M. Leith.
Miracle, 2001. Eight Cibachrome prints, diachronic glass, salt, and crystals; each element 27 1/4 inches. Collection of Mr. Chen Rong-Chuan. Installation photograph by Richard Goodbody.
White Hole, 2008–10. Acrylic and LED lights; 136 1/8 × 103 1/2 inches. Courtesy of SCAI THE BATHHOUSE, Tokyo and Sean Kelly, New York. Installation photograph by Richard Goodbody.
Transcircle 1.1, 2004. Stone, Corian, LED, real-time control system; 132 3/8 inches diam., each stone 43 3/8 × 22 1/4 × 13 1/2 inches. Courtesy of The Mori Art Museum, Tokyo.
Kaen-doki flame-ware vase, Middle Jōmon period (3,500–2,500 BCE). Earthenware; 11 5/8 inches high, 11 5/8 inches diam. Collection of John C. Weber.
Flatstone, 2006. Ceramic stones and acrylic vase; 192 × 124 × 3 1/2 inches. Courtesy of SCAI THE BATHHOUSE, Tokyo and Sean Kelly, New York. Installation photograph by Richard Goodbody.
FOREGROUND: Journey to Seven Light Bay, Primal Rhythm, 2011. Video with sound; 5 minutes, 14 seconds. Sound by Ken Ikeda. © Faou Foundation, New York. Courtesy of Adobe Museum of Digital Media. BACKGROUND: Photo documentation of Sun Pillar, Primal Rhythm, 2011. C-print; 55 × 40 inches. © Faou Foundation, New York. Photo by Richard Learoyd. Installation photograph by Richard Goodbody.
Ālaya, 2013. Video; 2 minutes, 30 seconds. Courtesy of SCAI THE BATHHOUSE, Tokyo and Sean Kelly, New York.
Kudaka Island Site Installation III, 2004. Piezo dye print; 50 ½ x 43 7/8 inches. Courtesy of SCAI THE BATHHOUSE, Tokyo and Sean Kelly, New York.
CATALOGUE
The exhibition is accompanied by a 144 page fully illustrated catalogue published by Japan Society and distributed by Yale University Press. Brett Littman, Executive Director, The Drawing Center, New York, sheds new light on Mariko Mori’s drawings. Iida Takayo, Chief Curator, Aomori Museum of Art, Japan, with his deep knowledge of Mori’s entire career thus far, provides detailed scholarly analysis of the creative development of the artist. Iida was instrumental in the realization of Mori’s Dream Temple (1997–99) which marked the turning point in her career, merging art and technology in large scale installations. He most recently participated in a conversation program with Mariko Mori at Espace Louis Vuitton in Tokyo, focusing on the topic of harmonious coexistence of man and nature, and how her art practice relates to that vision. Also included in the catalogue is an introductory text on Jōmon pottery by Simon Kaner, Assistant Director of the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Culture, UK.
MARIKO MORI
Photograph by David Sims . One the most visible Japanese artists in the international art world, Mariko Mori (born 1967) is a video and photographic artist. Her works often juxtapose Eastern philosophy with Western culture; pop culture with traditional Japanese identity. Through computer-generated photographs and large scale multi-media installations, she has produced renowned art pieces such as Birth of a Star in 1995; Nirvana in 1997; and Dream Temple in 1999. Kumano, one of the exhibits in “Transforming Minds: Buddhism in Art,” is a single channel video with sound, exploring iconography and belief of different belief systems.
Mori’s solo exhibitions have been organized in institutions around the world, including the Royal Academy of Arts, London; Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; the Prada Foundation, Milan; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; the Dallas Museum of Art; the Brooklyn Museum, New York; the Serpentine Gallery, London; and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Mori’s work was featured in the Royal Academy’s group exhibition “Apocalypse: Beauty and Horror in Contemporary Art” in 2000 and “Always a Little Further“ at The 51st International Art Exhibition, Venice Biennial in Venice and “Mariko Mori: Kumano” at Asia Society in New York.
“Oneness”, a survey of Mori’s work that opened in 2011 at the Groninger Museum in Groningen, Holland, then traveled to the ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, in Aarhus, Denmark, the Pinchuk Art Centre, in Kyiv, Ukraine and to Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, in Brasília, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Brazil, became the world’s most visited contemporary art exhibition with 538,328 visitors.
Her works are collected by The Guggenheim Museum, in New York, The Museum of Modern Art, in New York, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, French National Collection of Contemporary Art, The Prada Foundation in Milan, Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and The Israel Museum in Jerusalem, and private collections worldwide.
Mori has received numerous international awards, including the prestigious Menzioni d’Onore (Honorary Mentions) at the 47th Venice Biennale in 1997 (for the work Nirvana) and the 8th Annual Award as a Promising Artist and Scholar in the Field of Contemporary Japanese Art in 2001 from the Japan Cultural Arts Foundation. Mariko Mori currently lives and works in New York, London, and Tokyo.
ARTNET INTERVIEW
Best known for her performances, installations, and videos, Mori’s works focus on alternative interpretations of self and the exploration of space, spirituality, technology, and the various factors that influence the viewer’s perception of identity. In this artnet video, Mori discusses her solo exhibition at the Japan society with artnet specialist Heather Russell.
PRESS RELEASE
JAPAN SOCIETY GALLERY PRESENTS MARIKO MORI’S FIRST
MAJOR MUSEUM SHOW IN U.S. IN MORE THAN A DECADE
A Week-Long Outdoor Video Projection Opens Major Solo Exhibition
New York, NY— On Friday October 11, Japan Society Gallery unveils an ambitious solo exhibition of works produced by the internationally acclaimed artist Mariko Mori over the course of the last decade, including an important light installation never before exhibited in the U.S. and a new video work.
On view through January 12, 2014, Rebirth: Recent Work by Mariko Mori paints a picture of an artist who has chosen to explore different themes, aesthetics, and technology since her last museum show in New York over ten years ago, when she was described by The New York Times as a “jaundiced but intensely engaged Warholian eye on the floating world of consumer culture.”
In collaboration with curator Miwako Tezuka, director of Japan Society Gallery, Mariko Mori has designed the upcoming exhibition to invite us to a journey through immersive environments, which reflects prehistoric view on the birth of the life force; the present-day rupture of humankind from nature; and the potential for the reemergence of creative energy. Initially conceived for the space at the Society, Rebirth first opened at the Royal Academy of Art in London last year, and now it travels to Japan Society Gallery in its full configuration as the curator and the artist have originally envisioned. Japan Society is the only North American stop of this transformative exhibition.
“Rebirth reflects Mori’s shift away from a preoccupation with Japanese pop culture and consumerism toward the creation of contemplative and participatory spaces, and a vision of art and technology as essential parts of the broader ecology,” says Tezuka.
Nearly 35 installations, sculptures, photographs, drawings, and videos are featured, many informed by Mori’s extensive explorations of ancient cultures, including the Jōmon (14,000–300 BCE) of Japan and the Celts in Europe. “Our life was inherited from our very remote ancestors and given to us now and we will transfer it to future generations…. The chain of life reaching back through history, and our ancestors’ reverence for the natural world, remind us how interwoven we are with our environment,” says Mori.
Press Contacts: Amanda de Beaufort Anne Edgar Associates amanda@anneedgar.com 646-336-7230
Shannon Jowett Japan Society sjowett@japansociety.org 212-715-1205