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Yuki Nara Solo Exhibition "ENSEMBLE"

2021.7.16 Fri

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Yuki Nara’s solo exhibition “ENSEMBLE” will be held in collaboration with The Westin Miyako Hotel Kyoto at Sukiya Annex “Kasimizuen”.

 

 

Nara, who has two faces as a ceramic artist and architect, was born in 1989 in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture. This exhibition will feature his highly acclaimed Bone Flower series, his maiden work, as well as his new Lotus series.

 

Nara is proud to have a history of over 350 years, whose father is   Ohi Cyozaemon the 11th generation of Ohi potter, and his grandfather is a recipient of the Order of Culture.

In the mid 1600’s, when the lord of the Kaga domain introduced the Senke tea ceremony from Kyoto, Ohi ware was born in the area of Kanazawa as the only Raku ware side kiln, and the name was passed down from generation to generation in the family from the founder, Ohi Chozaemon.

 

Born the eldest son of a traditional family, Nara initially distanced himself from ceramics and studied architecture at Tokyo University of the Arts, graduating with honors from the university’s Graduate School of Art, majoring in architecture.

In 2021, he was selected as a finalist in the Under 35 Architects exhibition 2021, a competition for young architects in Japan.

 

Since its establishment in 1890, The Westin Miyako Hotel Kyoto has reigned as Kyoto’s premier hotel and guesthouse.

In 1925, the Kamisuien Garden was created on the grounds of the Kamisuien Annexe, a traditional Japanese-style house, by Hakuyo, the eldest son of the famous Japanese garden pioneer, Jihei Ogawa, the 7th generation of the family.

The garden was registered as a cultural asset of Kyoto City in 1994.

 

Designed by master architect Togo Murano in 1959, it is known as a masterpiece of modern postwar sukiya-style architecture.

The hotel is characterized by the traditional Japanese ryokan service, and was renovated by architect Takushi Nakamura in July 2020.

 

Dates and Time|:July 17 (Sat) – July 25 (Sun), 2021 11:00-19:00

 

 PressJuly 16, 2021 (Fri) 10:00-13:00 / VIPJuly 16, 2021 (Fri) 13:00-19:00

 

VenueThe Westin Miyako Hotel Kyoto Sukiya-style Annex “Kasuien” 1, Awataguchi Katei-cho, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto City

 

Artist: Yuki Nara, ceramicist and architect “Hosoo” Masataka Hosoo, 12th generation “Hosoo” Hiroki Ohara, 5th Iemoto of Ohara school

 

*Preventive measures are being taken to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus in the museum. Please refrain from visiting the museum if you are not feeling well. Please wear a mask, wash your hands, disinfect your fingers, and practice good cough etiquette.

 The contents and events are subject to change. Please check the website for the latest information.

 

The word “ENSEMBLE”, which is used in the name of the exhibition, means “harmony”, and is used as a two-person performance or a polyphonic instrument in music.

 

Nara’s concept of ENSEMBLE is that two or more things cross over and create synergy and dynamism.

 

Just as the two different perspectives of architecture and ceramics have evoked new images, so too, something new is created by being influenced by others, influencing others, and renewing values.

 

Works are not born out of the blue. Nara believes that ENSEMBLE with others will be an opportunity for his own works to break through.

 

First of all, ENSEMBLE with KASUIEN. It is not only the spatiality of the architecture but also a cross between the spirituality that Togo Murano put his heart into.

 

Japanese gardens such as Kaisuien Garden and Nara’s works have in common the Japanese values and the ambiguity between inside and outside.

 

It is a light shining into the room from outside and a kind of veranda that connects inside and outside ambiguously.

 

Nara’s sharp works have an affinity with Kasuien Garden, where the eaves appear thin using a traditional method called “Minoko” and the sharp, light gable roof overlaps.

 

This is an ENSEMBLE with Togo Murano, the designer of Kasuien Garden, Ogawa Hakuyo, who created the garden, and Nakamura Takushi, who undertook the renovation of the building.

 Also on display will be the new “Lotus” series, inspired by the cutting-edge textiles of Masataka Hosoo, the 12th generation of the Hosoo family, whose tradition of weaving dates back to 1688.

 

By incorporating the philosophies and techniques of textiles into ceramic techniques, he is displaying new values of ceramic art like textiles.

Masataka Hosoo was born in 1978 into the Hosoo family, a long-established Nishijin textile family founded in Genroku era.

His textiles based on the techniques and materials of Nishijin weaving are being developed overseas, and have been selected by architect Peter Marino for use in his designs of Christian Dior’s flagship store and Chanel’s stores.

 

Since 2012, he has been involved in the project “GO ON”, a group of young craftspeople of the same generation who are responsible for Kyoto’s traditional arts and crafts, to promote them both in Japan and abroad.

In 2014, he was selected as one of Japan’s 100 Leading Actors by Nikkei Business magazine, and in 2016 he became a MIT Media Lab Director’s Fellow.

 

 Finally, we will hold a collaborative exhibition with Hiroki Ohara, the fifth iemoto of the Ohara school of ikebana, one of the three major schools of ikebana.

 Hiroki Ohara, born in 1988 in Kobe, succeeded to the position of 5th Iemoto in 1995 at the age of 6.

As an artist, he has been actively developing his creative activities and expression through plants, both in Japan and abroad, as well as promoting the traditional Japanese culture of ikebana.

 

 

He is currently the president of the Ohara School Research Institute, vice president of the Contemporary Ikebana Art Association, vice president of the Hyogo Ikebana Association, visiting professor at Taisyo University, and head of the Ohara School for Beginners.

 

The Ohara school dates back to the end of the 19th century, when Ohara Unshin, the founder of the Ohara school, established a new style of ikebana called moribana and paved the way for modern ikebana.

 

Moribana” is a style in which flowers are arranged on a wide airtight container (water basin), and is characterized by its emphasis on a double-sided expanse compared to the traditional composition based on the movement of lines.

 

The well-known ikebana style using a water basin and a kenzan (sword) was started by the Ohara school. In the 130 years since its founding, the Ohara School has continued to create ikebana suitable for contemporary spaces based on the traditional flower arrangement, in keeping with the changing lifestyles of the times.

 

Inspired by the above-mentioned “horizontality” of the Ohara style, the new Bone Flower appears as a vase, and Ohara performs Moribana, resulting in a new work that complements the characteristics of both.  

 

 

During outbreak times, the increasing division of people, cities, and countries has made us realize the importance of community, the spirit of harmony, the spirit of mutual aid, and the spirit of living together. All of the above spirits are a way of thinking as a team, not as an individual.

 

Nara believes that the future of traditional arts and crafts lies in the synergistic effects of the Ensemble, just as sports such as baseball and soccer are played by a team of people interacting with each other.

 

This exhibition is a collection of ENSEMBLE, and we invite you to enjoy the world view created by the orchestral variety of works.

 

Yuki Nara, ceramic artist and architect, born in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan in 1989, graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts in 2013, completed the Tajimi City Ceramic Design Institute in 2016, graduated first in his class from Tokyo University of the Arts in 2017, and has been the president of the architectural design office EARTHEN since 2021. In the field of ceramics, he has been invited to participate in Art Basel / Design Miami (Switzerland), TEFAF (Netherlands), and SOFA (USA). His major awards include the Jury’s Special Prize at the Kanazawa World Crafts Triennial (2017).

 

His works are in the collections of Nezu Museum (Tokyo), Victoria & Albert Museum (UK), and others.

 

In the field of architecture, his major works include “Shoji Teahouse” (2018/ 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Tainan City Art Museum).

 

In 2021, he was selected as a finalist for the Under 35 Architects exhibition 2021, a gateway to success for young architects. He is based in Kanazawa and Tokyo, and his creative activities straddle the two fields of ceramics and architecture.

 

 

Official website http://yukinara.jp

 

Resided in Tokyo, Japan, the eldest son of 11th generation of Ohi Cyozaemon.

2016 Utsuwa Sono Sakini Ceramic – Shape of Soul (Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Main Store / Tokyo) 2016 SOFA CHICAGO (USA) 2017 Collect (UK) 2017 TEFAF Maastricht (Netherlands) 2017 Art Fair Tokyo (Tokyo International Forum / Tokyo) 2017 Design Miami / Art Basel (Switzerland) 2017 ASIA NOW (France) 2017 KOGEI Art Fair Kanazawa (KUMU / Kanazawa, Japan) 2018 Les Promesses du Feu / Concentration of Fire (Pierre-Yves Cas.r Gallery / France) 2018 Art Fair Tokyo (Tokyo International Forum / Tokyo) 2018 Asia Contemporary Art Show (Hong Kong) 2018 Art Taipei (Taiwan) 2018 Art Expo New York (Pier94 / USA) 2019 Art Central (Central Harborfront / Hong Kong) 2019 The 21st Mokichi Okada Award Exhibition (MOA Museum of Art / Atami) 2019 Art KYOTO (Nijo Castle / Kyoto) 2020 Hybridizing (Akio Nagasawa Gallery / Tokyo) 2020 2020 Synergism (ROLF BENZ / Tokyo) 2021 Ceramic Expressions (Mullan Gallery / Singapore) 2021 Fractal Synergy (YOD / Osaka) Architecture 2018 Five Tea Rooms (21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Tainan City Art Museum / Kanazawa, Taiwan) 2021 2021 Under 35 Architects exhibition 2021 (Umekita Shop Hall / Osaka) Product 2013 Rokkakodo Pudding (Design / Asadoya) 2015 Kizuna (Beer tumbler / Nikko) Collection: Nezu Museum (Tokyo) Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK

 

Collaboration Artists Hosoo Masataka The 12th generation of “Hosoo” was born in 1978 into the Hosoo family, a long-established Nishijin textile company founded in the Genroku era. Hosoo has developed textiles based on Nishijin textile techniques and materials for the overseas market, and has caught the eye of architect Peter Marino, had clients from the world’s top maisons, such as Christian Dior’s flagship store and Chanel’s store.

 

Since 2012, he has formed “GO ON,” a project by young successors of the same generation of traditional craftsmen in Kyoto, to promote traditional crafts in Japan and abroad; in 2014, he was selected as one of Nikkei Business magazine’s “100 Leading Actors of Japan,” and since 2016 he has been a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) He has been a Media Lab Director’s Fellow. Official website https://www.hosoo.co.jp/

 

 

Ohara Hiroki 5th Iemoto of the Ohara School Born in Kobe in 1988, I succeeded in the position of 5th Iemoto at the age of 6 in 1995. As an artist, he has been actively developing his creative activities and expression through plants both in Japan and abroad, as well as making efforts to popularize the traditional Japanese culture of ikebana.

 

Currently, he is the President of the Ohara School Research Institute, Vice President of the Japan Ikebana Art Association, Vice President of the Hyogo Ikebana Association, Visiting Professor at Taisho University, and Principal of the Ohara School for Beginners. The Ohara school dates back to the end of the 19th century, when the founder of the school, Unshin Ohara, founded a new form of ikebana called moribana, which paved the way for modern ikebana.

 

Moribana is a style in which ikebana is arranged in a wide-mouthed container (suiban), and is characterized by its emphasis on the expanse of the flower’s surface, as opposed to the traditional composition that focuses on the movement of lines. The well-known suiban and kenzan style of ikebana originated from the Ohara School. In the 130 years since its establishment, the Ohara School has continued to produce ikebana suitable for contemporary spaces, based on the traditional style of moribana, in response to the changing lifestyles of the time.

Official website https://hirokiohara.com/

 

Address: 1, Awataguchi Katei-cho, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, 605-0052, Japan Telephone: 075-771-7111 FAX: 075-751-2490 Access: 3-minute walk from Exit 2 of Keage Station on the Kyoto Municipal Subway Tozai Line Official website https://www.miyakohotels.ne.jp/westinkyoto

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