Aichi Triennale 2019
We visited the Aichi Triennale 2019.
Ayako Ishiba’s work was also on view at VOCA 2019 not long ago.
She continues her practice while serving as an educational research advisor at Aichi University of the Arts.
At first glance her pieces look like casual photographs of everyday scenes, but a closer look reveals that although the motifs are three-dimensional in reality, they reach the eye as flat, two-dimensional imagery.
Artist Profile
Ayako Ishiba
1991 Born in Hyogo Prefecture
2014 Graduated from the Department of Fine Arts, Printmaking, Kyoto Saga University of Arts
2016 Completed the Graduate School of Fine Arts, Aichi University of the Arts
Based in Aichi Prefecture
[Major Exhibitions]
2019 “Aichi Triennale — Taming Y/Our Passion”
2019 “IMA×Edition ‘STYLED IN PHOTOGRAPHY’ vol.1: Wearing Photographs, Draping Words — T-Shirt Collaborations between Photographers and Words,” IMA gallery (Tokyo)
2019 Solo exhibition “Between Dimensions,” Kodama Gallery (Tokyo)
2019 “VOCA 2019 — The Vision of Contemporary Art, New Flat Painters,” The Ueno Royal Museum (Tokyo)
2018 “Pop-up Dimension: Objects Adrift Where Dimensions Collapse,” Kodama Gallery (Tokyo)
Every piece on view looks flat, but none of them have been processed digitally with image-editing tools.
Quite the opposite: they are made using an extremely analog, primitive method.
The secret — as you can see if you look closely at the photograph (and really, do see the actual works in person) — is that Ishiba draws (or rather, fills in) outlines on the physical objects that serve as her motifs, using a black marker.
How does that strike you? Even though they are photographs, they feel painterly, don’t they?
Most of the subjects on view are drawn from utterly everyday scenes.
When we asked her why, the reply was as follows.
Writer: Is there any particular meaning or intention behind using everyday scenes as your subjects?
Ayako Ishiba:
What I found interesting about contemporary art is the sense that just shifting your viewpoint can make a common, ordinary scene look completely different.
When I was a student, seeing James Turrell’s Open Field at the Chichu Art Museum (Naoshima) profoundly changed the way I thought about planes of color.
It leads to a playful daydream: what if even a fragment of everyday life — a pedestrian crossing, a street poster — actually continues deeper inside?
I don’t consciously set out to shoot everyday things; I think it comes from my desire to interpret the life I lead now, joyfully, through my work.
The act of standing before the work and checking one’s own vision and perception is such an enjoyable form of viewing that I found myself wanting to see many more of her pieces.
Upcoming schedule:
– beyond2020 exhibitions (late September in Amsterdam, early November in Paris, and late November at IMA gallery in Tokyo)
– Sapporo Art Stage 2019 (November 3 – 24)
A young artist whose future activity we’re looking forward to.
Overview
Aichi Triennale 2019
Theme: Taming Y/Our Passion
Artistic Director: Daisuke Tsuda (journalist / media activist)
Dates: Thursday, August 1 to Monday (holiday), October 14, 2019 [75 days]
Main venues:
Aichi Arts Center
Nagoya City Art Museum
Downtown Nagoya (Shikemichi, Endoji, etc.)
Toyota City (Toyota Municipal Museum of Art and downtown)
Organizer: Aichi Triennale Organizing Committee
