Tokyo University of the Arts 3rd-Year Show
I visited “NI/O,” the exhibition by third-year undergraduates of the Oil Painting Course, Department of Painting, Faculty of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts.
Personally, I prefer the third-year show to Geidai’s graduation exhibition, and I always look forward to it. The previous third-year show comes back to me fondly.
That’s because, while following the work of students who caught my eye at Geisai or the promotion exhibitions, I often find works from their third year that feel somehow free and unconstrained.
By the fourth-year “graduation exhibition,” I often sense a certain tension — as if the collars have been straightened — and I find myself, as a viewer, also becoming a bit too tense (this may just be my personal impression).
NI/O
This third-year show is set within a fictional city called “NI/O.”
“NI/O” is an abbreviation of New Input/Output, carrying the meaning of a city that repeatedly metabolizes as new objects and events are brought in and taken out. Beyond the individual works, the shape of the city that emerges through the collisions and collaborations among its inhabitants is also a highlight of this exhibition.
Each student presented their work as if recreating their own studio within an assigned section.
Last year’s third-year show “Mirage” gave me the impression of many orthodox painting works, but this year’s “NI/O” leaned more toward contemporary art.
The residents of the city each brought change in a competitive spirit, but compared to last year’s golden generation, it was a shame that no work particularly caught my attention this time.
