“N/World” is a group exhibition of 14 artists, held to celebrate the 1st anniversary of the opening of MtK Contemporary Art.

It has been 2 years since we face the new reality, the reality which we build relationships on screen and connect to each other remotely, has pushed forward the detachment from physically facing the usual, familiar sceneries of everyday life. This new, unusual reality will eventually be normalized without us realizing it, making irreversible changes on our daily customs and perceptions.

Through the 1st anniversary exhibition, we would like to point out and look back on the relationships between people and materials, physical imaginations and practices, and a perspective on care and repairment while in the change of our history. The exhibition also makes us wonder on how this recent change in environment brings forth the balance or discord of this world, and how it appears on artworks.
The artworks of 14 artists resonate with the possibilities in the time of fluidity and uncertainty.

「Live drawing performance by Hiraku Suzuki」
Live drawing performance by Hiraku Suzuki on pre-open day of the exhibition "N/World".

Artist：Hiraku Suzuki
Film：Makoto Fujiyama
Venue：MtK Contemporary Art

 

「Drawing performance by Mineki Murata」
Drawing performance by Mineki Murata on the 1st day of the exhibition "N/World".

Artist：Mineki Murata
Photo：Shinya Kigure

｜Mineki Murata｜

Born in 1979, Gunma, Japan. Graduated from the Sculpture department of Tama Art University, 2005. Murata’ s drawings and performances are guided by his spontaneous, primitive actions.

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Kengo KITO 

Born in Aichi, 1977. Currently resides in Gunma. Kengo Kito has created large-scale installations incorporating ready-made objects, such as fabrics, ribbons, strings, and mirrors. In "Untitled (hula-hoop)," featured at the Hudson River Museum in New York in 2023, the artist interconnected hundreds of vibrant hula hoops and integrated them throughout the exhibition space. Similarly, "Ghost Flowers," unveiled at the Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art in 2020, showcased thousands of hand mirrors reflecting images of flowers. Kito has delved into expanding the meanings embedded within an array of ready-made materials. It is worth noting that Kito considers this arrangement of ready-made objects in space as akin to the process of painting. The artist’s exploration encompasses the dynamic interplay of color, form, and light in both installation and painting contexts. The new series of paintings presented in this exhibition are not conceived as standalone paintings but rather as installations. By seamlessly transitioning between elements of both disciplines, the artist blurs the boundaries between painting and installation, fostering interaction between them.

Major exhibitions include "RECONNECTING" at Japan House, Los Angeles, CA, U.S. (2021), "DOMANI: The Art of Tomorrow Exhibition 2021" at The National Art Center, Tokyo, Japan (2021), and "Full Lightness" at Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art, Kyoto, Japan (2020).

 

Takehito KOGANEZAWA

Born in 1974, Tokyo. Lived and worked in Berlin until 2017 after graduating Musashino Art University in 1999. With wide interests in matters such as time, shamanism, interactions with found objects, voids and emptiness, and focus on “the shifts in one’s consciousness”, the artist has worked with various mediums, created videos, installation works, drawings, and performances. The recent exhibitions include DOMANI: The Art of Tomorrow” Exhibition 2022–23: A century back, a century forward (The National Art Center, Tokyo, 2022), The Naked Theater (Kanagawa Arts Theater, Kanagawa, 2019), Book off/ Cut off (Loock Galerie, Berlin, 2018), Three Monochromes (rin art association, Takasaki, 2018).

 

Kohei NAWA

Born in 1975 in Osaka, Japan, Kohei Nawa received a PhD in Fine Art/Sculpture from Kyoto City University of Arts in 2003, and established Sandwich in 2009. He is now a professor at the Kyoto University of the Arts. Nawa has been exhibited in Museum of Contemporary Art (Tokyo , 2011), Louvre Museum (Paris, 2018), 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art (Kanazawa, 2019), Pace Gallery New York (New York, 2022), Pace Gallery (Seoul, 2023). The permanent collection include the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), The National Gallery of Victoria (Melbourne). Works between Kyoto and Tokyo.

 

Kei TAKEMURA

Born in 1975, Tokyo, lives and works in Japan. Takemura has continued to present works that are comprised of overlapping a layer of embroidered cloth on to a photograph or drawing. For Takemura, the act of embroidery is to create a state of being ‘tentative,’ and transform objects and places which no longer exist, and fragments of memory towards a tangible existence. Furthermore, in her “Renovated: Series” comprised of objects that were broken by accident, the points of fracture are embroidered by silk thread. These “wounds” are given a new light and are preserved as new objects of beauty.

Major exhibitions include "Kei Takemura + Kengo Kito "Color and Emotion", Pola Museum Annex, Tokyo (2022),"Somewhere Between the Odd and the Ordinary", 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa(2021), "ICHIHARA ART x MIX 2020+", Chiba(2021), “How Can It Be Recovered?”, Maitland Regional Art Gallery, Maitland(2020) "DOMANI: The Art of Tomorrow", The National Art Center, Tokyo and "Which Second was the Most Beautiful?, Which Year was the Most Beautiful?", EBESPERGER, Berlin(2017). Takemura participated in the 15th Biennale of Sydney and Yokohama Triennale 2020, and has consistently continued to strengthen her international presence while expanding her areas of activity.

 

Yuichiro TAMURA

Born in Toyama, 1977. Currently resides in Kyoto. Using found images and objects, the artist creates various works including photographs, videos, installation works, performances, and productions with multiple layers of real and made-up narratives, from historical to everyday, common themes. Those works lay out new perspectives on the original history or memories, ask viewers to question and rethink on matters in contemporary manners.

The recent exhibitions include the solo shows Milky Mountain (Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Zealand, 2019), Hell Scream (Kyoto City University of Arts Art Gallery @KCUA, Kyoto, 2018) and G (Yuka Tsuruno Gallery, Tokyo, 2018), and group shows Asian Art Biennial (National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, 2019), Image Narratives: Literature in Japan (National Art Center, Tokyo, 2019), The Seven Lamps of the Art Museum (Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, 2019), Where Am I?: The Art and Design of Signage (Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art & Design, Toyama, 2019), Roppongi Crossing 2019: Connexions (Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2019), Busan Biennale (Museum of Contemporary Art Busan, Korea, 2018), Nissan Art Award 2017 (BankART Studio NYK, Yokohama, 2017), 2 or 3 Tigers (Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, 2017) and BODY/PLAY/POLITICS (Yokohama Museum of Art, 2016).