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Yoichi Umetsu “Pollinator”
Watari-um, The Watari Museum of Contemporary Art
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Artists
Yoichi Umetsu
Among recent contemporary artists, there is no one whose entire range of activities is more difficult to grasp than that of Yoichi Umetsu. His work ranges from miniature drawings and pointillist paintings to video works documenting performances using himself as material to ceramic works, to curating and running a non-profit gallery. This exhibition is not a retrospective, although Umetsu himself will curate work from 2004 to 2021.
The word “pollinator” in the title means a mediator who carries pollen to pollinate plants and was chosen as a metaphor for Umetsu’s own position.
In fact, Watari-um has a deep connection with pollen: at the first exhibition “Light Seed” in 1990, guest curator Harald Szeemann spread eye-popping yellow dandelion pollen (by Wolfgang Leib) on the floor of the then brand new museum. It was a shocking event for contemporary art in Japan. Joseph Beuys’s “Pollen Transport 1981”, in which Beuys transported his work in his own truck and donated them to the Lodz Museum in Poland. During the Second World War, the German word “Pollen Transport” was associated with the road to death, but Beuys added an act of “rebirth” to the history that should never have happened.
As Umetsu said, “What is art? And what is the usefulness and public nature of art? He continues, “It is not in the presentation of easy-to-understand hopes and easy-to-follow visions, but in a world like a bad dream that is so intricate that at first glance it is impossible to feel its usefulness or publicness.” Umetsu’s work is always like a bad dream, but it also has a space like a very romantic poem. In this exhibition, Umetsu’s work will move to the next stage and become an unknown space to look forward to.
The word “pollinator” in the title means a mediator who carries pollen to pollinate plants and was chosen as a metaphor for Umetsu’s own position.
In fact, Watari-um has a deep connection with pollen: at the first exhibition “Light Seed” in 1990, guest curator Harald Szeemann spread eye-popping yellow dandelion pollen (by Wolfgang Leib) on the floor of the then brand new museum. It was a shocking event for contemporary art in Japan. Joseph Beuys’s “Pollen Transport 1981”, in which Beuys transported his work in his own truck and donated them to the Lodz Museum in Poland. During the Second World War, the German word “Pollen Transport” was associated with the road to death, but Beuys added an act of “rebirth” to the history that should never have happened.
As Umetsu said, “What is art? And what is the usefulness and public nature of art? He continues, “It is not in the presentation of easy-to-understand hopes and easy-to-follow visions, but in a world like a bad dream that is so intricate that at first glance it is impossible to feel its usefulness or publicness.” Umetsu’s work is always like a bad dream, but it also has a space like a very romantic poem. In this exhibition, Umetsu’s work will move to the next stage and become an unknown space to look forward to.
Schedule | Sep 16 (Thu) 2021-Jan 16 (Sun) 2022 Opening Hours Information
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| Fee | Adults ¥1200, Students(Under 25s) ¥1000 | ||||||
| MuPon | ¥300 off / Up to 1 people / Students ok. No other discounts.  Download the TAB app to get a discount on entry to this event. ※Paid subscriber only | ||||||
| Venue | Watari-um, The Watari Museum of Contemporary Art http://www.watarium.co.jp/  | ||||||
| Location | 3-7-6 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001 | ||||||
| Access | 5 minute walk from exit 3 at Gaienmae Station on the Ginza line. 8 minute walk from exit A2 at Omotesando Station on the Ginza, Hanzomon and Chiyoda lines. | ||||||
| Phone | 03-3402-3001 | ||||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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