Some say that the Banksy incident that took place at an overseas auction house about a week ago marks a “turning point in contemporary art,” but I experienced right in front of my eyes a very real “shock from a work I had never seen before” — an experience that changed the way I see art.
The exhibition I am reporting on this time overwhelmingly deserves to be called “the No. 1 exhibition of this season” — a rare encounter with works that seem to pioneer the future.
Kohei Nawa
The solo show of sculptor Kohei Nawa is being held at SCAI THE BATHHOUSE, a gallery renovated from a former public bathhouse.
It is located in the Yanaka area, past Tokyo University of the Arts, moving from the Tokyo National Museum in the direction of Tokyo University of the Arts (the nearest stations are Nippori or Nezu).
Kohei Nawa grasps the world through the concept of “CELL” (cells / particles), and he says he creates his sculptures as continuous accumulations of that unit. Precisely because “CELL” is what constitutes the world of human beings and matter, it has a high affinity with our senses and bodies and is easily connected with them — hence the direction of his practice.
The series “PixCell,” which combines Picture and Cell, is widely known as his signature work.
“Biomatrix”
I visited a few days after the opening of the solo show. Even so, buzz about the works in this exhibition was already circulating among people around me, and I headed over full of anticipation.
Upon entering, two works from a textural series called “VELVET” and two humanoid sculptures called “Particle” were on display.
The work “BIOMATRIX”
The work “BIOMATRIX,” from which the title of this solo show is drawn, was installed in the innermost room of the gallery.
“Biomatrix” — perhaps it should be understood as the framework of life itself.
The work belongs to the “LIQUID series.” A high-viscosity liquid, based on silicone oil, is pushed upward by air sent from a pump. The bubbles created by this process burst in both continuous and discontinuous patterns.
The reddish-orange color of the material, when combined with the bursting bubbles, resembles magma, evoking the primal energy from which life is born.
On the other hand, as you continue to gaze at it, the way the surface is partitioned into a matrix strongly evokes the “CELL” concept that flows beneath Nawa’s practice, and their squirming motion makes the work feel as though life itself dwells within it.
Since images cannot convey the essence of this work, please watch the video. What is especially striking is the “sound.”
The apparatus controlled by programming produces sound that grows louder in proportion to the size of the bubbles — and it is deeply emotional.
Moreover, when you look up at the tall ceiling of the former bathhouse, the light reflected from the work appears to be creating a secondary work of its own — a mystical sight.
Summary
The basic structure is that air is pumped into generated silicone oil. The number of air outlets from the pump is “333.” In other words, the work is composed of a 333-cell matrix.
Each CELL retains its shape while squirming, continues its activity, and seems to advance while maintaining balance with its surroundings. They appear to express our most fundamental life, quietly posing questions to the viewer.
Along with the statement expression that “all oppositions — the real and the virtual, the micro and the macro, the natural and the artificial — vanish upon a thin membrane,”
Kohei Nawa has founded a creative platform called “SANDWICH” and continues his production activities in this organized studio. Perhaps this is the fruit of his accumulated research into development: this exhibition became a place to encounter works I had never seen or felt before.
After viewing this show, our sensibilities will undoubtedly be updated.
