2900 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44113 + 216.621.2314 + [email protected] + www.SPACESgallery.org + 2900 Detroit Avenue, C
Yoko Inoue: Tea Taste Democracy and Upside Down Objects
Artist In Residence: March 5 – May 12, 2017
Exhibition: May 5 – June 30, 2017
Opening Reception: May 5, 6:00 – 9:00 PM
Press release, images, and caption info may be downloaded here.
Cleveland, OH (March 23, 2017) – During her SWAP residency at SPACES, Yoko Inoue (Brooklyn, NY) is researching the
Japanese art collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, focusing on how Japanese aesthetics and cultural iconography
were integrated into the American economy. Exploring the museum’s archives pertaining to former director Sherman
Emory Lee, Inoue is examining his pivotal role in the valuation of Japanese artifacts and protection of Japanese
cultural properties, as a “Monuments Man,” during the post-war US occupation of Japan and the ensuing process of
democratization.
For her installation at SPACES, Tea Taste Democracy and Upside Down Objects, Inoue will create works about Lee’s
understanding of Japanese cultural identity that he developed though his relationship with Japanese scholars. The
installation will simultaneously contextualize the socio-political condition of the time in which he conducted his extensive
field research.
In the wake of World War II Americans were presented with two different versions of what constituted Japanese
aesthetics and culture: one through scholarship, and the other through commerce. As a counterpoint to her investigation
of the introduction of Japanese high culture to Cleveland audiences, Inoue will also introduce her ideas regarding
imported kitsch figurines that were stamped “made in occupied Japan” and widely marketed to the middle class in
America as home décor objects. She is working with the ceramics department at the Cleveland Institute of Art to create
a body of work that question the contemporary relevance and value of these objects.
ARTIST BIO
Yoko Inoue (b. Kyoto, Japan / l. Brooklyn, NY) is a multidisciplinary artist whose working methodology includes
sculpture, installation, socially engaged projects, and public interventions. Through academic research, on-site fieldwork
and performance, she investigates the causes of the commoditization of cultural values and effects of globalization on
traditional heritage. Inoue has exhibited at Brooklyn Museum; Rubin Museum, SculptureCenter, Smack Mellon, The
Bronx Museum, Pierogi-The Boiler, Art in General, and Des Moines Art Center. She is a recipient of the Guggenheim
Fellowship, Anonymous Was A Woman Award, The Joan Mitchel Foundation Painters & Sculptures Grant, NYFA
Fellowship, Lambent Fellowship, and Franklin Furnace Performance Art Fund.
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Major support for SPACES comes from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The City of Cleveland’s Cable Television Minority Arts
and Education Fund, the Toby Lewis Philanthropic Fund, the Chuck & Char Fowler Family Foundation, the Meisel Family Foundation, the Nord
Family Foundation, and the following:
Additional support comes from James Anderson & David Wittkowsky, Barrie Projects, Fred & Laura Ruth Bidwell, Fran & Jules Belkin, William
Busta & Joan Tomkins, Jeffry & Cynthia Chiplis, Cleveland Lofts, FORM, Great Lakes Brewing Company, Ohio Savings Bank/NYCB, Fred
Olivieri Construction Company, Jill Gerson Parker & Robert Parker, Process Creative Studios, Shannon McCue,
(re)startsmart, the TEGNA Foundation, Vedda Printing+, and Wood-Lee International Art Handler.
SPACES is located at 2900 Detroit Ave., in Cleveland, OH. Gallery hours are Tuesday - Sunday: 12 – 5 p.m., and the gallery is open until 8
p.m. on Thursdays. Admission during regular gallery hours is free and open to the public. For more information, visit
www.SPACESgallery.org, call 216.621.2314, or email [email protected].
Style Notes: “SPACES” (all capital letters) is the legal name of the organization, and should be used in all instances without any additional
words when referencing the organization.