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Yosuke Amemiya "H&T. A,S&H. B&W.
(Heel&Toe. Apple,Stone&Human. Black&White.)"
Yosuke Amemiya "H&T. A,S&H. B&W.
(Heel&Toe. Apple,Stone&Human. Black&White.)"
Yosuke Amemiya "H&T. A,S&H. B&W.
(Heel&Toe. Apple,Stone&Human. Black&White.)"
session：2021.9.3fri.- 10.9sat.13:00-19:00
＊closed on Sun, Mon, Tue and public holidays.
SNOW Contemporary is pleased to present Yosuke Amemiya's solo exhibition "H&T. A,S&H. B&W. / Heel&Toe. Apple,Stone&Human. Black&White" from Sept 9 to Oct 9, 2021.
Amemiya was born in 1975 in Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. After receiving a B.A. at Tama Art University, Faculty of Art and Design, Oil Painting Course in 1999, Amemiya relocated to Europe in 2011 and currently resides in Berlin. Using various media in his artistic practice, including paintings, sculptures, art projects, video installations, and performances, Amemiya creates a structure to make viewers recognize multi-layered aspects in everyday matters in all his works, as he describes, “I always try to arrange the situation in which I can treat the least toxic theme and let guests take back lightest bombs without noticing” (excerpt from the artist statement on Amemiya’s solo exhibition at SNOW Contemporary, 2018)..
Amemiya’s works, which attempt to take viewers out of their daily lives and into the universality of human beings and the world through a series of slight deviations, create a "bomb" inside the viewer that, once experienced, will make them realize that they have a different perspective on events that existed without their awareness before the viewing, as though a "bomb" that is planted inside the viewer. This structure is true in all his works, including Amemiya’s performative work at “Roppongi Crossing 2010: Can There Be Art?” (2010, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo), “20th DOMANI: The Art of Tomorrow” (2018, The National Art Center, Tokyo) and other exhibitions held during all open hours as a performance that gradually deviated from everyday life and eventually drew viewers into a world created by Amemiya; or in the project Perfectly Ordinary Stones, Carried For 1,300 Years, where the artist asks six people to keep a stone for five years until they pass on to the next person, which is planned to continue until year 3314; or in his sculpture work Apple, where he depicts a melting apple.
In this solo exhibition, “H&T. A,S&H. B&W. (Heel&Toe. Apple,Stone&Human. Black&White.),” Amemiya will present a space of works gathered on a table including his iconic melted apples and black-and-white fruit sculptures that he has been working on since the beginning of his career, along with his recent drawings. We are truly delighted to present this opportunity for viewers to experience the artist’s unique approach and how it may change our recognition.
*Amemiya is also participating in the following exhibitions:
- “Reborn-Art Festival 2021-22” (Ishinomaki, Miyagi, Japan, - Sep. 26)
URL:https://www.reborn-art-fes.jp
< - “Apple Cycle / Cosmic Seed” (Hirosaki Museum of Contemporary Art, Aomori, Japan, - Aug. 29)
URL:https://www.hirosaki-moca.jp/exhibitions/apple-cycle-cosmic-seed/
(Heel&Toe. Apple,Stone&Human. Black&White.)"
session：2021.9.3fri.- 10.9sat.13:00-19:00
＊closed on Sun, Mon, Tue and public holidays.
SNOW Contemporary is pleased to present Yosuke Amemiya's solo exhibition "H&T. A,S&H. B&W. / Heel&Toe. Apple,Stone&Human. Black&White" from Sept 9 to Oct 9, 2021.
Amemiya was born in 1975 in Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. After receiving a B.A. at Tama Art University, Faculty of Art and Design, Oil Painting Course in 1999, Amemiya relocated to Europe in 2011 and currently resides in Berlin. Using various media in his artistic practice, including paintings, sculptures, art projects, video installations, and performances, Amemiya creates a structure to make viewers recognize multi-layered aspects in everyday matters in all his works, as he describes, “I always try to arrange the situation in which I can treat the least toxic theme and let guests take back lightest bombs without noticing” (excerpt from the artist statement on Amemiya’s solo exhibition at SNOW Contemporary, 2018)..
Amemiya’s works, which attempt to take viewers out of their daily lives and into the universality of human beings and the world through a series of slight deviations, create a "bomb" inside the viewer that, once experienced, will make them realize that they have a different perspective on events that existed without their awareness before the viewing, as though a "bomb" that is planted inside the viewer. This structure is true in all his works, including Amemiya’s performative work at “Roppongi Crossing 2010: Can There Be Art?” (2010, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo), “20th DOMANI: The Art of Tomorrow” (2018, The National Art Center, Tokyo) and other exhibitions held during all open hours as a performance that gradually deviated from everyday life and eventually drew viewers into a world created by Amemiya; or in the project Perfectly Ordinary Stones, Carried For 1,300 Years, where the artist asks six people to keep a stone for five years until they pass on to the next person, which is planned to continue until year 3314; or in his sculpture work Apple, where he depicts a melting apple.
In this solo exhibition, “H&T. A,S&H. B&W. (Heel&Toe. Apple,Stone&Human. Black&White.),” Amemiya will present a space of works gathered on a table including his iconic melted apples and black-and-white fruit sculptures that he has been working on since the beginning of his career, along with his recent drawings. We are truly delighted to present this opportunity for viewers to experience the artist’s unique approach and how it may change our recognition.
*Amemiya is also participating in the following exhibitions:
- “Reborn-Art Festival 2021-22” (Ishinomaki, Miyagi, Japan, - Sep. 26)
URL:https://www.reborn-art-fes.jp
< - “Apple Cycle / Cosmic Seed” (Hirosaki Museum of Contemporary Art, Aomori, Japan, - Aug. 29)
URL:https://www.hirosaki-moca.jp/exhibitions/apple-cycle-cosmic-seed/
H&T. A,S&H. B&W.
Yosuke Amemiya
This title is pronounced as “Heel & Toe, Apple, Stone & Human. Black & White.” While I will explain the H&T later, A, S&H each mean Apple, Stone, and Human, which are my favorite motifs for my works and projects. B&W simply means black and white. I have mentioned this many times before, but one of the reasons I like apples, stones, and humans is because they can be found almost anywhere in the world. My ideal pathway for a work to be practical is to gently place a small bomb with low killing power in one’s pocket when one would first see it at an exhibition (from the artist's statement on the solo exhibition in 2018). After a while, it will explode in their daily life, and the world will change its scenery one after another. Such a pathway is the most ideal. This happens when you’d pick up an apple at the supermarket long after you’d leave my exhibition space. That is why I choose apples, stones, and humans, which exist anywhere in the world, as motifs in my works. “B&W” indicates black-and-white sculptures. This series of works is meant to reemphasize=celebrate the matter of course that “this world (ourselves) are in fact, all natural colors.” .
Now, H&T stands for Heel and Toe, one of the manual shift driving techniques used in car racing. This is a technique where you simultaneously step on the gas pedal and brake with your right foot to slow down when entering a corner and keep the RPMs low, so that you can change gears optimally when exiting the corner. (Although I wonder who would share my opinion about manual shifting in a world where automated driving is already around the corner.)
The same goes for the melted black-and-white apple sculptures that I often make. Melted apples, for example, don't actually exist in the world, so if the shape is melted, it naturally shouldn’t look “real.” Also, for example, black-and-white sculptures significantly lose the “red” element, which is one of the essential characteristics of an apple. In the fruit sculpture, I am trying to do something like “stepping on the gas pedal and brake of perception at the same time, and keeping the sculpture, which is supposed to be static, to continue to vibrate.”
In this exhibition, I will present a melted apple sculpture, a series of black and white sculptures, drawings created under the Covid-19 pandemic, and manuscripts drawn in Hirosaki (Aomori Prefecture, Japan) and Ishinomaki (Miyagi Prefecture, Japan) on a single table with lighting.
Yosuke Amemiya
This title is pronounced as “Heel & Toe, Apple, Stone & Human. Black & White.” While I will explain the H&T later, A, S&H each mean Apple, Stone, and Human, which are my favorite motifs for my works and projects. B&W simply means black and white. I have mentioned this many times before, but one of the reasons I like apples, stones, and humans is because they can be found almost anywhere in the world. My ideal pathway for a work to be practical is to gently place a small bomb with low killing power in one’s pocket when one would first see it at an exhibition (from the artist's statement on the solo exhibition in 2018). After a while, it will explode in their daily life, and the world will change its scenery one after another. Such a pathway is the most ideal. This happens when you’d pick up an apple at the supermarket long after you’d leave my exhibition space. That is why I choose apples, stones, and humans, which exist anywhere in the world, as motifs in my works. “B&W” indicates black-and-white sculptures. This series of works is meant to reemphasize=celebrate the matter of course that “this world (ourselves) are in fact, all natural colors.” .
Now, H&T stands for Heel and Toe, one of the manual shift driving techniques used in car racing. This is a technique where you simultaneously step on the gas pedal and brake with your right foot to slow down when entering a corner and keep the RPMs low, so that you can change gears optimally when exiting the corner. (Although I wonder who would share my opinion about manual shifting in a world where automated driving is already around the corner.)
The same goes for the melted black-and-white apple sculptures that I often make. Melted apples, for example, don't actually exist in the world, so if the shape is melted, it naturally shouldn’t look “real.” Also, for example, black-and-white sculptures significantly lose the “red” element, which is one of the essential characteristics of an apple. In the fruit sculpture, I am trying to do something like “stepping on the gas pedal and brake of perception at the same time, and keeping the sculpture, which is supposed to be static, to continue to vibrate.”
In this exhibition, I will present a melted apple sculpture, a series of black and white sculptures, drawings created under the Covid-19 pandemic, and manuscripts drawn in Hirosaki (Aomori Prefecture, Japan) and Ishinomaki (Miyagi Prefecture, Japan) on a single table with lighting.
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