Momoko Nakamura × Aki Tsukamoto:
A Walk in the Park
2022 10.27 – 11.06
Overview
このたびSAIでは、2022年10月27日(木)より11月6日(日)まで東京を拠点に活動する2人の若手アーティスト、中村桃子(なかむら ももこ)と塚本暁宣(つかもと あき)による二人展「A Walk in the Park」を開催いたします。
中村桃子はグラフィックデザイン事務所を経た後、イラストレーターへと転身。装画やアパレルブランドのテキスタイルイラストなどを手掛ける他、広告やミュージシャンとのコラボレーションなど、一度見たら忘れないスタイリッシュで物憂げな世界観は現在さまざまなカルチャーシーンから注目を集めています。また、塚本暁宣は武蔵野美術大学院を卒業後、単身ニューヨークへ渡りアーティストのアシスタントとして4年間学んだ後、2020年に帰国しました。現地のグラフィティ文化から刺激を受け、ポップ・ストリートカルチャーとキュビズムが融合したかのようなユニークなスタイルを確立するアーティストです。「肖像」をモチーフに各々のスタイルを展開し表現を続ける2人は現在、東京のアートシーンを中心に注目される若手作家として精力的に活動を行い、満を持して、SAIのスペースにて新作発表を行います。
本展覧会のタイトル「A Walk in the Park」は「難しくない、簡単だよ」といった意味のスラング。考え込まずとも気楽にやってのける。そんな軽妙としたタイトルは、両者だからこそできる実験的な本展に、ちょうど良いバランスを付与する、まるでスパイスのような役割を果たします。
中村は「女性」や「植物」といったフェミニンさを漂わせる対象を頻繁に描きますが、作家自身が好きなフォルムを描いていたら自然と辿り着いたと言うように、そのきっかけはシンプルにも対象の纏う有機的なかたちや曲線にあります。中村はそこへ感情を落とし込むように自身の等身大の感覚を具現化して行きます。渋谷区出身で、子供時代に旧宮下公園で過ごしていた思い出を持つ中村は、本展覧 会では子供の頃の記憶をなぞるように、ふと頭の中に浮かんだ気持ちを言葉に書き留めるプロセスを経て作品を制作してきました。懐かしさと高揚感が入り混じる、一種のリフレクティブな感覚が内在します。
一方の塚本は、昨年BEDWIN&THE HEARTBREAKERSのディレクター渡辺真史氏の手掛けるショップ「DAYZ」内にて個展を開催したことが真新しく、昨年に続く2回目のミヤシタパークでの展示となります。サンプリングという手法を使いながら既存のイメージ同士を組み合わせ、新たなイメージを再構築していく事で、流用と盗作の間にある不確実な部分へ踏み込む作品が特徴的です。作家はそこに古典絵画から取り入れた色のコントラストや、構図、掴みどころのない肖像の表情を通して、受け止め方の余白を鑑賞者へと委ねます。
異なるバックグラウンドや姿勢を抱く二人。しかしながら、作品から感じ取れる哀愁さや絶妙なフォルムから大胆な色使いまで、そこには自然と重なりある部分も多いのではないでしょうか。それぞれに異なる方向性を持った作家が空間に隣り合うことで湧き上がる調和と反発。一見相容れないように見えるこの2つの要素が衝突する時、鑑賞者に不思議な感覚をもたらしてくれるかもしれません。
本展は100号を最大としてさまざまなサイズのキャンバス作品、ドローイングから立体作品まで各作家の新作作品群が会場を鮮やかに彩ります。今この瞬間の東京アートシーンで躍進する二人の作家が放つそのエネルギーは、我々にここでしか味わえない臨場感を与えてくれることでしょう。
SAI presents “A Walk in the Park”, a two-person exhibition featuring two Tokyo-based artists, Momoko Nakamura and Aki Tsukamoto, taking place from Thursday October 27th to Sunday November 6th 2022.
Initially working in graphic design, Nakamura decided to change course and pursue a career as an illustrator. She quickly established a uniquely stylish yet melancholy perspective, which once seen is impossible to forget. Her work has garnered attention in various cultural spheres and allowed her to extend beyond illustration and into designing textiles for fashion brands, advertisements and collaborations with various musicians. Tsukamoto graduated from Musashino Art University in 2016, and ventured on his own to New York to work and study as an artist's assistant for four years, before returning to Japan in 2020. Inspired by the graffiti culture he encountered in New York, Tsukamoto's style became a unique fusion of popular culture, street culture and cubism.
Whilst developing their own parallel practices, both Nakamura and Tsukamoto use the genre of ‘Portrait’ painting to cultivate and continue their own unique manner of expression. This two-person exhibition provides an exciting opportunity to present new works by two young artists who are currently making waves in Tokyo's contemporary art scene.
The title of the exhibition, “A Walk in the Park”, takes its name from an English phrase meaning ‘it's not hard, it's easy’, suggesting an effortlessness that does not require too much thought. The light-hearted wit of the title is a small indication of what will be on offer at this experimental exhibition, giving it a little extra spice and providing just the right balance that only the combination of these two artists could have created.
Nakamura often depicts subjects that are described as ‘feminine’ such as women and flowers. The artist herself explains however, that despite the seeming simplicity of the forms that she is drawn to, she arrives at her ideas naturally, with the impetus for her work laying in the organic shapes and curves of her subjects. The act of creation allows her to pour her emotions into her works and are a life-size embodiment of her feelings and sentiments. Nakamura, who was born in the Shibuya area, has childhood memories of spending time in the old Miyashita Park, and she created the works in this exhibition through a process of writing down the immediate feelings that were evoked through her recollections. This act of reminiscence thereby imbues the works with a sense of reflective nostalgia and joy, as if tracing her childhood memories.
For Tsukamoto, on the other hand, this will be his second exhibition in Miyashita Park, having shown his works last year in a solo exhibition at DAYZ, a culture-orientated retail store curated by Masafumi Watanabe, director of BEDWIN & THE HEARTBREAKERS. The artist's works are characterised by their references and use of recognizable imagery, which much like the musical technique of sampling, combines existing images and reconstructs them into entirely new compositions that tease the ambiguous line between appropriation and plagiarism. Through the contrast of colours, composition, and the elusive expressions of the figures in his portraits, Tsukamoto uses the language of classical painting to leave various margins of perception up to the viewer.
Though the two artists come from different backgrounds and contexts, there is a natural overlap between their differing styles; from their melancholic yet exquisite forms, to their bold use of colour. The juxtaposition of these two contrasting artists will create a simultaneous sense of tension and harmony within the gallery, creating a sort of curious atmosphere that only occurs when two seemingly incompatible elements collide.
From canvas paintings to drawings and sculpture, the exhibition will see the gallery adorned with all new and brightly coloured works by Nakamura and Tsukamoto, showcasing the vital energy of these two artists making great strides in the Tokyo art scene.
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Slowly: Momoko Nakamura
1623 × 1305mm, Acrylic on canvas, 2022 -
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Greenday: Aki Tsukamoto
1300 × 970mm, Oil on Canvas, 2022 -
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Artichoke: Aki Tsukamoto
305 × 970mm, Oil on Canvas 2022 -
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After Party Depressing: Aki Tsukamoto
1620 × 1300mm, Oil on Canvas 2022 -
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Sea Side Sad Song: Aki Tsukamoto
1300 × 1620mm, Oil on Canvas 2022 -
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Drawing #4: Aki Tsukamoto
406 × 305mm, Pastel on Paper 2022 -
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pet(2): Momoko Nakamura
910 × 729mm, acrylic on canvas 2022 -
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childhood memories(1): Momoko Nakamura
1168 × 914mm, acrylic on canvas 2022 -
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angel's hands: Momoko Nakamura
1305 × 972mm, acrylic on canvas 2022 -
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last day: Momoko Nakamura
747 × 565mm, acrylic on paper 2022
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Slowly: Momoko Nakamura
1623 × 1305mm, Acrylic on canvas, 2022 -
Greenday: Aki Tsukamoto
1300 × 970mm, Oil on Canvas, 2022 -
Artichoke: Aki Tsukamoto
305 × 970mm, Oil on Canvas 2022 -
After Party Depressing: Aki Tsukamoto
1620 × 1300mm, Oil on Canvas 2022 -
Sea Side Sad Song: Aki Tsukamoto
1300 × 1620mm, Oil on Canvas 2022 -
Drawing #4: Aki Tsukamoto
406 × 305mm, Pastel on Paper 2022 -
pet(2): Momoko Nakamura
910 × 729mm, acrylic on canvas 2022 -
childhood memories(1): Momoko Nakamura
1168 × 914mm, acrylic on canvas 2022 -
angel's hands: Momoko Nakamura
1305 × 972mm, acrylic on canvas 2022 -
last day: Momoko Nakamura
747 × 565mm, acrylic on paper 2022