Aki Moriyama “ICON”
I visited Aki Moriyama’s solo exhibition “ICON,” slipping in on the final day of the exhibition period. The venue is “un petite GARAGE.”
This solo exhibition centers on works using Barbie dolls as their motif.
Upon entering the venue, portraits of dolls resembling SNS icons, painted on circular canvases, line the walls.
Each icon has blurred contours and facial expressions.
The works seem to pose questions about the environments we are naturally placed in—gender, race, LGBT, nationality—through expressions using dolls.
The works seem to raise questions that challenge the images imposed on or forcibly assigned to individuals through categorization by role or affiliation.
The backgrounds of the works are painted in acrylic, while the portrait sections are done in oil paint.
The combination of POP style and oil painting is also lovely. Up close, the paint surface has a wonderful texture.
The works, like puppet plays, are pop yet contain uneasy elements, giving them a sense of depth.
Even within the portrayals of dolls seen from behind, something mysterious and unsettling lurks.
Summary
At first glance, these may seem like pop works depicting large dolls, but there is fascination in the approach of using dolls to satirize human society.
The balance between “seemingly pop, yet unsettling” is well-maintained. The works were nearly all sold out, showing that she appears to be a popular artist.
As someone who considers himself a conformist, I felt that the unease and satire could be even more emphasized for an interesting effect.
She is apparently still attending graduate school at the Tokyo University of the Arts. High expectations for her future activities!
