Survivor
Survivor, 2019
Photo: Ito Tetsuo
Appearing in this installation, which combines a large two-dimensional work and several objects including a fan light onto the spinning propellers of which images are projected, are all kinds of animals such as orangutans―a species that presently faces extinction―as well as Komodo dragons and Leptoptilos robustus birds that once lived in Indonesia. In addition to these, there are depictions of people with guns, coconut bombs, and sceneries of things going up in flames.
The artist focuses in her work on the repeated extinction of species through invasive foreign species―in Indonesia and elsewhere―in the course of history, and on destruction caused by such artificial factors as human aggressive warfare.
For her artworks she first creates rough images on her computer using image editing software and 3-D design CAD software, and subsequently expands the resulting data into multiple formats including oil painting and video. The structure of this installation itself consists of multiple layers, as the piece is designed to be looked down on also from the second floor, after leaving the actual exhibition space.
In Southeast Asia, forest devastation through global companies is today a major social problem. Chances are that the detergents and soap containing vegetable oil that we are using in daily life are not totally unrelated to the issue of palm oil and the destruction of the jungle in order to make it.
IMAZU Kei
- Born 1980 in Yamaguchi, Japan
- Based in Bandung, Indonesia
Imazu Kei completed her master's degree at Tama Art University. She creates sketches on Photoshop by enlarging and layering image data culled from a vast range of media--such as of classical masterpieces of painting and photos posted on social media--and uses these as the basis for executing her oil on canvases. The warped and intricately intertwined motifs are telling of how the artist has continuously grappled with the notion of painting itself. Her artistic practice, predicated on the fact that every possible subject has been treated over the course of art's history revolves around pursuing new technical approaches to painting, and reflecting on their significance. Imazu's work is created through an approach that merges today's technology with a traditional medium. It brings together contemporary social issues and the themes arising from the chosen motifs into one cohesive world.
Selected Works & Awards
| 2019 | Roppongi Crossing 2019: Connexions, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan |
| 2018 | Measuring Invisible Distance (solo), YAMAMOTO GENDAI, Tokyo, Japan |
| 2018 | Contemporary Art of the 21st Century – Exhibition of Taguchi Art Collection from Andy Warhol to Yoshitomo Nara, The Hiratsuka Museum of Art, Kanagawa, Japan |
| 2017 | In Focus: Contemporary Japan, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, USA |
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Nagoya City Art Museum
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・7 minutes on foot from Osu Kannon Station on the Tsurumai Line
・10 minutes on foot from Yabasho Station on the Meijo Line