PRESS RELEASE 1/3
αM Project 2016 Trans / Real: The Potential of Intangible Art
Curated by Umezu Gen (Curator of the Museum of Modern Art, Saitama)
Trans / Real: The Potential of Intangible Art
Umezu Gen
The concept behind the title of this exhibition series relates to artistic trends represented in two seminal exhibitions of
the past, The Art of the Real (The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1968) and Anti-Illusion: Procedures/Materials (The
Whitney Museum of American Art, 1969). The former gave a comprehensive overview of the impact of the art of the
real, a major driving force behind modernism in art, and the latter illustrated in concrete terms the various possibilities
for contemporary art after Minimalism, the movement that was both a product and a critical endpoint of modernism.
This exhibition series is closely related to both the real and the modern, and its title could also be Trans/Modern. The
prefix trans- includes the meaning beyond and can thus imply after (post-) as well, meaning that Post/Real would also
have been a valid title. Arrange the elements of these potential alternate titles further and you get Post/Modern, a
familiar phrase and a latent sub-theme of this series.
Building on this general foundation, Trans/Real: The Potential of Intangible Art explores the potential of art after modernism (for which the collapse of a self-contained vision and space act as critical transition points), defining this potential
as intangible and applying to it seven key words with the prefix trans-. It questions what medium, a topic of frequent
debate during the modernist period, means in the context of a wide range of contemporary Japanese art encompassing
painting, sculpture, installation, photography, video, and sound. In this sense it advances the discussion of postmedium (Rosalind Krauss) from un-medium (art media in which material, format, and work are in an undifferentiated
state) to trans-medium.
The concept of this series also expands the discussion that unfolds in Edward Strickland s Minimalism: Origins (1993).
This discussion is organized around the terms Paint, Sound, and Space (Paint and Sound referring to painting and music
respectively). Trans/Real adds four more terms, Surface, Information, Line, and Perception, and pairs each of the seven
terms with a word prefixed by trans- to arrive at the titles for each of the seven stages of the exhibitions series. The
proposed titles are, Koshino Jun: Translucent/Surface, Gocho Tatsuo: Transparent/Space, Suenaga Fuminao / Yaegashi Yui:
Transform/Paint, Aikawa Masaru / Ozawa Yuko: Transfer/Information, Ito Atsuhiro / Tsunoda Toshiya: Transmission/Sound,
Bunya Yukari: Transonic/Line, Tanaka Kazuhito: Transpose/Perception.
These seven shows featuring 10 artists are sure to carry out a fresh and engaging investigation of the Trans/Real
theme. In doing so, it will be necessary to explore the wide-ranging potential of Trans/Medium with a view to both
vertical plumbing of modernism s depths (exploration that transcends the possibilities and limitations of a single
medium) and horizontal surveying across its borders (of trends in use of multiple media). In other words, to interpret
these two approaches to medium not as diametrically opposed but as coexisting equally on the same plane requires
apprehending the concept of Trans/Medium with emphasis on tangibility vs. intangibility of the experience of the work,
more than the materiality vs. immateriality of the work itself. Rather than dwelling narrowly on theories of medium, this
exhibition series will seek to interpret the entire process by which art is created as a device or circuit that generates
creative expression, and shed light on the theme of Trans/Real while exploring the limitless potential of intangible art.
Schedule
Stage 1: Apr. 9 (Sat.) - May 14 (Sat.): Koshino Jun
Stage 2: May 28 (Sat.)‒ Jul. 2 (Sat.): Gocho Tatsuo
Stage 3: Jul. 16 (Sat.) ‒ Aug. 27 (Sat.): Suenaga Fuminao / Yaegashi Yui (gallery closed for summer vacation Aug. 7 - Aug. 15)
Stage 4: Sep. 10 (Sat.) - Oct. 15 (Sat.): Aikawa Masaru / Ozawa Yuko
Stage 5: Oct. 29 (Sat.) - Dec. 3 (Sat.): Ito Atsuhiro / Tsunoda Toshiya
Stage 6: Dec. 17 (Sat.) ‒ Feb. 4, 2017 (Sat.): Bunya Yukari (gallery closed for winter vacation Dec. 25 - Jan. 9)
Stage 7: Feb. 18, 2017 (Sat.) ‒ Mar. 25 (Sat.): Tanaka Kazuhito
Venue：Gallery
αＭ B1F, Agata-takezawa Bldg. 1-2-11 Higashi-kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0031 Japan
tel: +81-3-5829-9109 fax: +81-3-5829-9166 e-mail: [email protected] http://gallery-alpham.com/
Hours: 11:00-19:00 Holldays: Sundays, Mondays and National holydays
Organizer: Musashino Art University
Direction: Musashino Art University αM Project Steering Committee
Gallery αM is a nonprofit gallery operated by Musashino Art University where curators present a variety of innovative
ideas and artists with outstanding skills and great potential show their work.
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Guest Curator
Umezu Gen, Curator, Museum of Modern Art, Saitama
Umezu Gen was born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1966. He completed the Master s Program at the Graduate School of Tama Art
University in 1991, and later that year became a curator at the Museum of Modern Art, Saitama. Major exhibitions Umezu has solely or
jointly curated include: Visualization in the End of the 20th Century (1994), Matter and Perception 1970: Mono-ha and the Search for
Fundamentals (1995), Donald Judd 1960-1991 (1999), Plastic Age: Art and Design (2000), Artist Project: Toward the Emergence of
Sekine Nobuo s Phase ‒ Mother Earth (2005), and 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Q Ei (2011). Recent published writings include:
The Hard Edge of Modernism, Abst no. 6 (2011), Reversed Membrane: Reclaiming Phase ‒ Mother Earth, Sekine Nobuo Re-Creations
1970/2011 (Kamakura Gallery 2011), Yamanaka Nobuo: The Pinhole as Projection Device, Thermodynamics of the Sun (Tochigi
Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, 2013), Language as Process for Manifestation of Thought , Mapping no. 3 (2014), and Sound of
the Real 3, Hikikomisen 2015.
Artists
Koshino Jun
Born 1967 in Osaka. MFA, Kyoto City University of Arts, 1991. Lives and works in Osaka. Main Exhibitions include
8 White Rectangles (Gallery Ashiya Schule, Hyogo, 2014 ), Perspective (Art Space ZERO-ONE, Osaka, 2013),
Interlude (Gallery Yamaguchi Kunst-Bau, Osaka, 2012), Kitano Yoshihiko, Koshino Jun 2 Men s Show
(Noborimachi Space of Art, Hiroshima 2014), UTSUSEMI (Jokaiso, Aichi, 2012), Subtleness / Koshino Jun, Miura
Yoko 2 Men s Show (Gallery Yamaguchi Kunst-Bau, Osaka, 2011), and Impulse of Nothing (Gunma Prefectural
Women's University, 2006). http://www.junkoshino.com
Koshino Jun Monocolor ｜2014｜Silkscreen paint on perspex｜NSA noborimachi space of art
Gocho Tatsuo
Born 1958 in Niigata. MFA in Sculpture, Musashino Art University, 1986. Main Exhibitions include One piece, two
pieces, and... (Metal Art Museum Hikarinotani, Chiba, 2014), and One piece, two pieces (Gallery 21yo-j, Tokyo,
2012, 06, 03). Solo Exhibitions (Ningyo-cho Exhibit Space Vision s, Tokyo, 2002), Solo Exhibitions (IBMKawasaki City Gallery, Kanagawa, 1998). ABST October (Hino Gallery, Tokyo, 2015), Spark: Agency for Cultural
Affairs Purchase Award Works (Takasaki Tower Museum of Art, Gunma, 2013). A Polyphony of Sound, Color and
Form Vol.2 Gocho Tatsuo（Studio-SK, Tokyo, 2009), ACKid 2008 (Kid Ailack Art Hall, Tokyo,2008), 100 Artists
from Niigata (The Niigata Bandaijima Art Museum, Niigata, 2004), The 36 th Contemporary Art SelectionsーA
Walk in Beauty and Creation (Kushiro Art Museum, Hokkaido, 2002), and ABST: Reason in Space (Yokohama
Portside Gallery, Kanagawa, 2001).
Gocho Tatsuo Manhole｜2012｜Steal, acrylic-resin｜240×69×69cm｜gallery21 yo-j｜ Photo : Morioka Jun
Suenaga Fuminao
Suenaga Fuminao
Rag｜2015
Acrylic, pigment on panel
20×17.8×17.8cm
Courtesy of Maki Fine Arts
Born 1974 in Yamaguchi. BFA in Painting, Department of Fine Arts, Tokyo Zokei University, 1999.Main
Exhibitions include Unshrap (Gallery ZERO、Osaka,2015), Camouflage (Gallery Nakano, Yamaguchi,
2015), Houkago Remix [after-school remix] (Maki Fine Arts, Tokyo, 2015), APMoA Project, ARCH, vol. 11,
Museum Piece (Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Exhibition Room 6, Aichi, 2014), In the Corner of Sight
(Switch Point, Tokyo, 2013). Discreet Abstraction [Curated by Suenaga Fuminao] (Maki Fine Arts, Tokyo,
2015), Railroad Siding 2015 (Ex-Tokorozawa City Supply Center of School Meals, Saitama, 2015), 1974,
Part 1, Born in 1974 (Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, 2014), and The Vision of Contemporary Art 2013
(Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo, 2013) http://www.fumisue.sakura.ne.jp
Yaegashi Yui
Born 1985 in Chiba. MFA, Graduate School of Tokyo Zokei University, 2009. Main Exhibitions include To
and From Home (Midway Contemporary, Minneapolis, 2015), Demeanor (Shane Campbell, Chicago,
2015), Manner and Preparation" (MISAKO & ROSEN, Tokyo, 2014), and Early Summer and Common
Practice (MISAKO & ROSEN, Tokyo, 2012). Selected Group Exhibitions: Contemporary Tales From the
Province III: Susaki Artist in Residence (Susaki Machikado Gallery, Kochi, 2015), Cool Invitations 2 (XYZ
Collective, Tokyo, 2015), Man & Play [Curated by XYZ Collective] (Brennan & Griffin, New York, 2014),
"The way of Painting (Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, 2014), "FUYU NO TABI", (Shane Campbell
Yaegashi Yui
Untitled ｜2015｜Oil on Canvas
Gallery, Chicago, 2012), "NEW INTIMACIES (Hotel Anteroom Gallery 9.5, Kyoto, 2014), and Group Show
22.3×16×2cm｜Photo: Okano Kei
(Federica Schiavo Gallery, Roma, 2013).
Courtesy of Artist and
MISAKO & ROSEN
Aikawa Masaru
Born 1978 in Peru. BFA in Art and Media, Department of Information Design, Tama Art University, 2004. Main
Exhibitions include "Jump", (Towada Art Center, Aomori, 2015), "Art Meets 02 , (Arts Maebashi, Gunma,2015),
"Train Festival , (Artarea-B1, Osaka, 2015), "Wish You Were Here" (Eitoeiko, Tokyo,2014), After Effect , (4A
Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Australia, Sydney, 2011), Gateway Japan (Torrance Art Museum,L.A.,
2011),and Roppongi Crossing 2010", (Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2010). http://masaruaikawa.com
Aikawa Masaru CDs(Kraftwerk) ｜2010Acrylic on canvas, The Kent board, CD-ROM, CD Audition Device (NAKAMICHI MB-K300s) ｜140×140mm
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Ozawa Yuko
Ozawa Yuko 15_1_13(Children outside of time)
2015｜Video｜3:24
Born 1984. Finished the Fine Arts Course (Painting), Graduate School of Art and Design, Musashino Art
University, in 2009. Creates videos and other works by editing images and sounds found on the Internet,
and adding made-up captions. Main Exhibitions include "Sorewa Motteimasu, Soshite Watashino
Subetedakedesuka?"（Art Center Ongoing, Tokyo）, Emergencies! 023 Ozawa Yuko/Unknown Actors
(NTT InterCommunication Center, Tokyo, 2014), It is, and is Only I the World?" (Art Center Ongoing,
2012), Artist Draft 2012:One of the story (Kyoto Art Center, 2012), Gunma Biennale for Young
Artists" (The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, 2012, 08, 10), The World and Loneliness Vol.3 Ozawa
Yuko x Murayama Goro (Nihombashi Takashimaya 6F/X Art Gallery, Tokyo 2012), Father and Mother
(Talion Gallery,Tokyo, 2014), Sound Mind Sound Body (Chateau 2F Tokyo, 2014), and "Takamatsu
Contemporary Art Annual vol.4: Regarding the Reality" (Takamatsu City Museum of Art, Kagawa, 2014).
http://pa03040yo.web.fc2.com
Ito Atsuhiro
Ito Atsuhiro was born in 1965. He launched his career as a visual artist in the late 80s, and in 98 began
presenting sound performances at art exhibitions and so on. Ito made use of fluorescent lighting (which is also an
element of his art installations) in the creation of an original musical device called the optron. He continues to
refine the instrument while approaching sound and music from a contemporary-art-based perspective. In addition
to his solo exhibition and performance projects, Ito is active in a number of musical units. One of these is Optrum,
the explosively loud extreme optical noise core band consisting of Ito and drummer Yoichiro Shin. Between 2000
and 2005 Ito presented various sound (music)/visual image-related events at Off Site, the now-defunct
Gallery/free space in Yoyogi, Tokyo. The Optrum album Recorded was released in June 2006 on the label
Unknownmix (Headz). http://www.gotobai.net/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdXMN2odplA
Ito Atsuhiro OPTRON @TAUM｜2002｜Photo:Tama Art University Museum
Tsunoda Toshiya
Tsunoda Toshiya
One Stereophony By Two Persons
2012｜Talion Gallery｜Photo: Shiigi Shizune
Tsunoda Toshiya (Kanagawa, 1964) is a sound creator known for works of field recording and
collage. He studied oil painting at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, where he
received his MFA. Aside from his work as a sound creator, he is also known for his wideranging activities as an installation artist and performer. By using small or contact
microphones to produce his field recordings, Tsunoda s sound works capture the acoustic
characteristics of spaces with dazzling clarity. These works show the ways in which particular
vibrational phenomena shape the subjective experience of time and space. His exhibitions
include Soundings: A Contemporary Score with Luke Fowler, MoMA, New York (2013),
Simple Interactions Sound Art from Japan, Museet For Samtids Kunst, Denmark (2011),
Yokohama Triennale with Luke Fowler, Yokohama (2008) and Half Life, Kilmartin Glen,
Argyll, Scotland (2007). Tsunoda has also performed at Inverleith House, Edinburgh (2012)
and Stuk Arts Centre, Leuven, Belgium (2010).
Bunya Yukari
Bunya Yukari
Looking at The Vacant Scenery
2015｜Ink, Paper panel
78.9×111.0cm
Born 1985 in Okayama. BFA in Composition, Department of Music, Aichi University of the Arts, 2008.
MFA in Intermedia Art, Tokyo University of the Arts, 2010. Lives and works in Aichi. Main Exhibitions
include Yukari Bunya Exhibition (Galleria Finarte Aichi, 2014), Yukari Bunya: Between Line and
Drawing (Chino City Museum of Art, Nagano, 2013), and Looking at the Vacant Scenery: Red and Black
(Gallery Jin Projects Tokyo, 2013), Okayama Prefectural Mr. I Development of Rising Artists Award
(Tenjinyama Cultural Plaza of Okayama Prefecture Okayama, 2015), The 12th Gunma Biennale for
Young Artists 2015 (The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma, 2015), The 17th Exhibition of the Taro
Okamoto Award for Contemporary Art (Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, Kanagawa, 2014), The Vision of
Contemporary Art 2013 (The Ueno Royal Museum Tokyo, 2013), and POSITION 2012 Contemporary
Art from Nagoya: The World seen from this Position (Nagoya City Art Museum Aichi, 2012).
http://yukaribunya.com/
Tanaka Kazuhito
Tanaka Kazuhiro Blocks(Light) #9
2013｜Courtesy of Maki Fine Arts
Born 1973 in Saitama. BA in Commerce, Meiji University, 1996. After working in Japan, lived and
attended art school in the US from 2000-2005. BFA, School of Visual Arts (NY), 2004. Lives and works
in Kyoto. Main Exhibitions include pLastic_fLowers (Maki Fine Arts, Tokyo, 2015), High & Dry
（Gallery PARC, Kyoto, 2015), and Untitled Composition（Maki Fine Arts, Tokyo, 2012), New Balance
#3（XYZ Collective, Tokyo, 2015), and Hyper-materiality on Photo (G/P Gallery Shinonome, Tokyo,
2015). Curation: NEW INTIMACIES (Hotel Anteroom Gallery 9.5, Kyoto, 2014), and Her Name is
ABSTRA (Daido-Soko, Kyoto, 2012). kazuhitotanaka.tumblr.com