Since studying sculpture at Tokyo University of the Arts, Odani Motohiko has created a dynamic body of work using diverse media such as sculpture, photography and video. His unique style of expression and his aesthetic sense have won him acclaim both in Japan and abroad. In 2003 he was selected as one of the artists to represent Japan at the Venice Biennale and he has also participated in the Istanbul Biennale and the Gwangju Biennale.

Sculpture is by its nature a physical and time-consuming endeavor. Generally involving heavy materials, such as stone or wood, sculpture conveys a sense of volume and weightiness. As though to undermine these notions, Odani’s sculptural works give visual representation to “phantoms” that are not visible or that have no physical form at all. This approach has remained consistent throughout his career.

The abstract sensations and psychological states that are given expression in Odani’s works – fear, pain, unease, tactile sensations – remind us of things that we have otherwise forgotten, or tried to forget. A dress made of hair, an animal in a restraining device, a mysterious young girl, a samurai’s wraith-like emaciated horse, water falling over a waterfall: Each of the works’ multifaceted images defies a single interpretation. Occupying the territory between beauty and ugliness, life and death and the spiritual and the secular, the works have an ominous attraction that seems to appeal directly to the subconscious. Odani’s video works are for him forms of sculpture, too – sculpture in which he can control the element of time – and they also function as devices for grasping things that otherwise cannot be seen.

In addition to many sculptures Odani has made over the last decade, this exhibition includes an immersive video installation – a kind of “video sculpture.” There are also new works exploring phenomena that are fundamental to the workings of the world: gravity, rotation, circulation. With artworks that transcend the concept of sculpture in their attempts to capture existence from all perspectives, this exhibition helps us discover the potential of artistic expression to explore the borders between the visible and the invisible and the physical and the spiritual.

Odani Motohiko Profile
Born 1972 in Kyoto. Received a BFA in sculpture (1995) and MFA (1997) from Tokyo University of the Arts. Odani has been included in numerous international exhibitions, including the Japan Pavilion of the Venice Biennale (2003), Lyon Biennale (2000), the Istanbul Biennale (2001) and the Gwangju Biennale (2002). Major solo exhibitions include “Modification” (Kirin Plaza, Osaka, 2004) and “Odani Motohiko / Hollow” (Maison Hermes, 2009-2010). Major group exhibitions include “Ground Zero Japan” (Contemporary Art Center, Art Tower Mito, 1999) and “Skin of/in Contemporary Art” (National Museum of Art, Osaka, 2007).

* The text provided by MORI ART MUSEUM.

Opened dates: November 27, 2010 - February 27, 2011