Walls Tokyo will present a two-person exhibition by Mari Nakamura, who pursues expression through the characteristics of printmaking, and Kaoru Murakami, who uses found objects to visualize the discrepancy between fact and perception.

 

open: wed-sun

closed: mon, tue

※We will be open on Sundays during this exhibition.

 

Memory / Oblivion　

There is a science fiction movie titled "Blade Runner"（＊）. In the future, human-like androids called "replicants" are developed and distributed as work robots. Replicants are equipped with abilities that are greater than those of humans, and they develop emotions within a few years of being manufactured. As a safeguard, their lifespan is set at four years. If they rebel against humans, it will cause serious consequences.

　Replicants do not have a past, so when their emotions are awakened, they begin to become emotionally unstable. The latest prototype, Rachael, was implanted with the memories of the android designer's niece, and she keeps a childhood photo (of her niece as a child) as proof that she is not a Replicant.

　Four Replicants of the same type, who have been laboring on a space colony, learn that their own lifespan is only four years, and they revolt and return to Earth to force their manufacturer to extend their lifespan. Like Rachael, they are obsessed with photographs. Mixed in among the photographs they own are old black-and-white photos of a young boy, which means that they will not give up even those photos that have nothing to do with them. These photographs may serve as clues to create childhood memories they cannot have.

 

Chihiro Minato describes the mnemon［1］ of ancient Greek society as follows. Mnemon is said to be those who record the fulfillment of contracts, payments, etc., in the name of justice, though, "In mythology, this mnemon accompanies the hero and helps him remember by constantly recounting past events. This is because forgetfulness means death."（＊＊）

 

Replicants, who fear death, constantly refer to their photographic past to confirm who they are. The photographs they rely on are not their own, but rather quotations of somewhere someone else's "I". Still, they cling to the evidence that they themselves existed/do exist. In order to keep away from the death of oblivion and to live as a person with an ego.

 

What emerges from this is that the only people who can have a past and future are those who have the ability to be aware of themselves as subjects - the ego. This will become even clearer if we compare a flesh-and-blood human being with an artificial intelligence. An AI, which only integrates and generates information, will never have a past or a future.

 

The first person "I" is used only by a being with an ego. The "I" here is an abstract "I" meaning a human being. What is the proof of the existence of this "I". When the "I" is gone, can the existence of the "I" be proved. It probably needs the help of the goddess of memory. Does not the memory of the "I" that looks back on the past and dreams of the future exist here only in material form.

 

I would like to introduce two writers here now.

 

Kaoru Murakami is inspired by the gap between facts and perceptions, misunderstandings, assumptions, diversity of meanings, and the impossibility of translation, based on the fact that even what is considered fact can be transformed by perception. In recent years, he has been presenting many installation works that weave new stories by deciphering the existence of people and disappearing history, culture, and events, using objects left behind in a place as materials. Some of his works deal with postcards and photographs obtained at flea markets, and relics from those days left behind in stores that have closed down.

 

Mari Nakamura presents works in which used notebooks and schedule books are printed as page-by-page plates on a single sheet of paper. Since multiple pages are printed on a single sheet of paper, the written characters sometimes overlap, sometimes shift, and are abstracted away from their original roles. It is an overlapping of time made visible, a trace of memory that has now lost its purpose.

 

From the remnants of memories that have completed their roles, we can sense even the slightest presence of a person -someone who lived, thought, felt something, and saw the future. Because it is a shell of "I," its absence makes its presence felt even more strongly. The evidence of human life found by the artists, quietly shines out as if in a last stand against oblivion.

 

（＊）Directed by Ridley Scott "Blade Runner" Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young 1982

（＊＊）Chihiro Minato, "Memory: Imagination and the Power of Recall" Kodansha 1996

[1] A mnemon is a person who held the office of recorder in ancient Greek society. A unit of human memory, from which the word Mnemonic is derived. Derived from Mnemosyne, the Greek goddess of memory.

 

 

Kaoru Murakami

Kaoru Murakami began her career as an oil painter and etching artist, and after moving to England to study contemporary art, began showing her work in Japan in 2008. Her work is based on the theme of how familiar she can feel the existence of others and past events associated with these objects by developing images from objects such as postcards, texts, daily necessities, and photographs that serve as evidence of existence and circumstances. She continues to work in drawing, collage, and installation, regardless of the medium.

Born in Tokyo, Japan
2004　Graduated from Tama Art University Department of Painting, Graphic Arts Course
2008　Graduated from Central Saint Martins Collage

Solo Exhibitions
2014　「Bulb Cities」Youkobo Art Space, Tokyo
2010　「最期の絵はがきがポストに向かう」Loop Hole, Tokyo
2009　「共依存的、見えない都市」GalleryQ, Tokyo

Group Exhibitions
2020　「軒下プロジェクト」Sumida Mukojima EXPO2020, Tokyo
2018　「対流風景」53 Art Museum China, China
2017　「中之条ビエンナーレ2017」Nakanojo Town, Gunma
2017　「光る知覚」Akibatamabi 21, Tokyo
2016　「オル★テラ」Myozenji Temple, Tokyo
2015　「中之条ビエンナーレ2015」Nakanojo Town, Gunma
2014　「Project6581」Japan Creative Center, Singapore
2010　「TAMA VIVANTⅡ/ポイケドジャナイ」Tama Art University and others, Tokyo
2008 「群馬青年ビエンナーレ」The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma

 

Murakami Kaoru　instagram

 

 

Mari Nakamura

She presents lithograph works in which used notebooks and schedule books are made into multiple plates and printed on a single sheet of paper. Since multiple pages are printed on a single sheet of paper, the written characters sometimes overlap, sometimes shift, and are abstracted away from their original roles. It is an overlapping of time made visible, a trace of memory that has now lost its purpose.

 

Born in Saitama, Japan

2015 武蔵野美術大学大学院　修士課程造形研究科　版画コース修了
一般社団法人　日本版画協会会員

【Awards】
2013
日本版画協会第81回版画展 山口源新人賞 /東京都美術館　
第38回全国大学版画展 収蔵賞 /町田市立国際版画美術館 　
2014
第39回全国大学版画展　収蔵賞 /町田市立国際版画美術館
2015 
平成27年武蔵野美術大学卒業 修了制作展 優秀賞
5th Guanlan International Print Biennial China 2015 入選
日本版画協会第83回版画展　A部門奨励賞 /東京都美術館
2019
日本版画協会第87回版画展　準会員優秀賞 /東京都美術館

【Solo Exhibitions】
2015.2016.2019 
個展 /GALLERY.b.TOKYO
2020 
個展 /JINEN GALLERY
2021
個展 /クロスビューアーツ・ギャラリーなつか

【Group Exhibitions】
2014 
版画系 /文房堂GALLRY
日本版画協会　第81回展 版画展受賞者展 /シロタ画廊
版画展SELECTION /ギャラリーなつか
落石計画　第７期残響 /旧落石無線送信局
越境する版表現ー東アジアの作家たちと版17展ー /佐喜眞美術館
2015
平成26年度　造形学部卒業制作・大学院修了制作優秀作品展 /武蔵野美術大学美術館・図書館
無界 /中国版画博物館　深セン 中国
2015台湾設計展 /台北　台湾 
2016
日本版画協会　第83回版画展　一般公募受賞者展 /シロタ画廊
7人の庭園 /揚曦藝文空間　台北 台湾
武蔵野美術大学 版画研究室展 /コートギャラリー国立
2017 
落石計画　第10期クロニクル2008-2020ー痕跡と展開ー /旧落石無線送信局
Contemporary Japanese Printmaking Art 50Artists /Hazu Gliptoteka ザグレブ クロアチア
2018 
地域のなかのアートな居場所 /川口市アートギャラリーアトリア
新竹国際版画展 /新竹県政府文化局美術館 　台湾
2019
Tautology /Roonee247FineArts
2020 
View sview /ギャラリーなつか
中村真理/松塚実佳　展 /たましん本店地域貢献スペース 
常ト楽　ーAplus viewing04ー /川口市文化財センター文館　国指定重要文化財旧田中家住宅
 
【収蔵作品】
町田市国際版画美術館、沼津市庄司美術館、佐喜眞美術館、中国版画博物館

 

Nakamura Mari　instagram