Kiyomichi Shibuya majored in Nihon-ga (Japanese-style Painting) at Tokyo University of the Arts. Although he no longer follows the regular methods of Nihon-ga, the path towards his present work relates closely to the methods and materials he learned then, for example in the use of Japanese paper and gofun. Shibuya sees Nihon-ga primarily as hanging scrolls and folding or sliding screens. (The term Nihon-ga itself was invented to make a distinction with Western pictures and their formats.) These traditional Japanese ways possess temporary, non-permanent, relationships to the spaces in which they are displayed, which Shibuya takes as akin to installation art in contemporary contexts. His notion informs the present exhibition, in which Shibuya seeks to make space itself into a work of art. The exhibition is composed of two gallery areas, connected to each other by an opening, which, however, is shut fast by a closed door. Visitors may access either area by its own entrance, but may not move across. One white-walled space is entirely empty, save for the door in the wall. The other space is hung with metalpoint and spirographic drawings. Metalpoint was an indispensable tool for drawing until the invention of the pencil, and had its peak in the 16th century. But it is less stable than pencil, so that colours change over time. Shibuya uses this feature to make an interplay between exhibition-space and time.
Shibuya previously used well-known stories to introduce the concepts of his works, such as Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, Marshak’s The Twelve Month Brothers or Aesop’s The Honest Woodman. There aphorisms are used to set up taboos, like ‘you must not look’ or ‘you must not open’. Here, the injunctions become the metaphor of two restricted rooms, and for the conscious limitations of spirography and metalpoint, which the artist has imposed upon himself. However, spirography is familiar to everyone, and by using it Shibuya weakens our sense of his originality of the artist, who might otherwise appear in control of the work right down to the last detail. By deploying these techniques, the work is diluted with anonymity, thus leaving space for the development of a dialogue between maker and viewer.

Taro Amano, Curator in Chief, Yokohama Museum of Art

Opening Reception：Feb. 12, Wednesday 18:00 - 20:00