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Natsuko Tanihara Exhibition
Ueno Royal Museum
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Natsuko Tanihara
Last March, Natsuko Taniwara, who held a solo exhibition at the Creative Center Osaka to celebrate winning the Sakuyakonohana Prize, and in July had a solo exhibition at Ohara Museum of Art as an invited artist for ARKO2023, will now hold new solo exhibitions in Tokyo at Ueno Royal Museum and MEM, marking her first solo show in Tokyo in two years.
Natsuko Taniwara completed her doctoral studies at the Kyoto City University of Arts, with her dissertation titled "Light Pulses at the Bottom of Darkness—Explorations of Dark Paintings Starting from Derori." She wrote a thesis aligning her work with the lineage of "dark paintings" from medieval Japan. Her work connects with folklore and myths from around the world, depicting themes of human violence, fear, malice, and war through her unique mythology.
At Ueno Royal Museum Gallery, she will present new large-scale oil paintings centered around the theme of a grand apocalypse. Taniwara places great importance on creating a unique narrative for her artwork. The main story in this exhibition features girls whose bodies transform into airplanes. This theme follows her previous work, "Somewhere a Trumpet Is Sounding" (2021), where she depicted a giant airplane vertically taking off from between skyscrapers and presented the story related to that work. Inspired by the "Revelation" from the Old Testament, which describes seven angels sounding trumpets to announce the end of the world, Taniwara's version of the apocalypse features a sudden end of the world, where selected girls' bodies transform into airplanes one after another. These "Airplane Girls" set off to a "gap in the world" where they might prevent the apocalypse. The exhibition will also include early oil paintings and pastel works related to the theme of the apocalypse.
In contrast to the grand apocalypse theme, MEM will focus on the small darkness within humanity. The exhibition will depict surreal scenes such as people living on rafts surrounded by shachi (mythical sea creatures), a woman embracing a faceless man, and bodies being corroded by space, illustrating the darkness that resides within people. Additionally, original poster artwork and design sketches for the Edo puppet show "Transformation," for which Taniwara handled puppet art, will also be on display.
Natsuko Taniwara completed her doctoral studies at the Kyoto City University of Arts, with her dissertation titled "Light Pulses at the Bottom of Darkness—Explorations of Dark Paintings Starting from Derori." She wrote a thesis aligning her work with the lineage of "dark paintings" from medieval Japan. Her work connects with folklore and myths from around the world, depicting themes of human violence, fear, malice, and war through her unique mythology.
At Ueno Royal Museum Gallery, she will present new large-scale oil paintings centered around the theme of a grand apocalypse. Taniwara places great importance on creating a unique narrative for her artwork. The main story in this exhibition features girls whose bodies transform into airplanes. This theme follows her previous work, "Somewhere a Trumpet Is Sounding" (2021), where she depicted a giant airplane vertically taking off from between skyscrapers and presented the story related to that work. Inspired by the "Revelation" from the Old Testament, which describes seven angels sounding trumpets to announce the end of the world, Taniwara's version of the apocalypse features a sudden end of the world, where selected girls' bodies transform into airplanes one after another. These "Airplane Girls" set off to a "gap in the world" where they might prevent the apocalypse. The exhibition will also include early oil paintings and pastel works related to the theme of the apocalypse.
In contrast to the grand apocalypse theme, MEM will focus on the small darkness within humanity. The exhibition will depict surreal scenes such as people living on rafts surrounded by shachi (mythical sea creatures), a woman embracing a faceless man, and bodies being corroded by space, illustrating the darkness that resides within people. Additionally, original poster artwork and design sketches for the Edo puppet show "Transformation," for which Taniwara handled puppet art, will also be on display.
Schedule | Sep 14 (Sat) 2024-Sep 20 (Fri) 2024 Opening Hours Information
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| Fee | Free | ||||
| Website | https://mem-inc.jp/2024/08/22/tanihara2024/ | ||||
| Venue | Ueno Royal Museum | ||||
| Location | 1-2 Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0007 | ||||
| Access | 3 minute walk from the Koen exit of JR Ueno Station, 5 minute walk from exit 7 at Ueno Station on the Ginza and Hibiya lines, 5 minute walk from the Main exit of Keisei Ueno Station on the Keisei line. | ||||
| Phone | 050-5541-8600 (Hello Dial) | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it    |
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