A special exhibition is being held at the Ohara Museum of Art from February 17 (Sat) to April 14 (Sun), 2024.
“AM Kurashiki vol.17: Takamatsu Asuka — Light Travels Around the World” brings together works by painter Takamatsu Asuka and works from the Ohara Museum of Art’s collection.
What exactly does it mean for works of art to be brought together?
Here, we introduce the exhibition along with an interview with Takamatsu Asuka.
Photography is normally prohibited inside the Ohara Museum of Art. Special permission to take photographs was granted for this article.
The information presented here is current as of when this article was published in March 2024. Please note that it may differ from current information.
What is “AM Kurashiki (Artist Meets Kurashiki)”?
The Ohara Museum of Art runs three major programs that invite contemporary artists to participate.
- Special openings of Yurin-so Villa: held every spring and autumn
- ARKO (Artist in Residence Kurashiki, Ohara): artists create work during a residency at Kojima Torajiro’s studio (Mui-so Villa)
- AM Kurashiki (Artist Meets Kurashiki)
AM Kurashiki is a program for a wide range of artists, including not only painters and sculptors but also artists working in physical expression and video. Artists create and present works through their encounters with Kurashiki.
The 17th exhibition, “Takamatsu Asuka — Light Travels Around the World,” was originally scheduled to be held from April to July 2020.
However, it was postponed due to the spread of COVID-19, and was eventually held four years later with the addition of the artist’s latest works.
The previous exhibition (vol. 16) was held from January 1 to March 15, 2020, making this the first exhibition in four years.
Overview of “Takamatsu Asuka — Light Travels Around the World”
Takamatsu Asuka’s works are displayed in four galleries in the Ohara Museum of Art Main Building, alongside works from the museum’s collection.
I wondered what “bringing them together” meant, but the atmosphere felt completely different from a typical exhibition.
To put it plainly, it felt like the works had been “arranged at random,” but I found this a very fresh experience.
For example, this display is said to emphasize the expansiveness of the space by symbolically showing a high place on land (the top of a mountain) and a deep place beneath the sea (an octopus).
It felt as though not only the paintings in their frames, but the space itself, was a work of art.
Even though I don’t often visit art museums, I found myself gazing at the display.
Interview with Takamatsu Asuka
We spoke with painter Takamatsu Asuka about “AM Kurashiki vol.17: Takamatsu Asuka — Light Travels Around the World.”
I felt there were quite a lot of works. Was that related to the fact that the exhibition, originally planned for 2020, was postponed for four years?
Takamatsu (surname only)
I’ve always worked in a style where I bring things together, and having lots of little pieces is pretty typical for me.
I found it refreshing to see your work paired with pieces from the Ohara Museum of Art’s collection. Did you decide on specific pairings from the outset and create the works with the exhibition in mind?
Takamatsu
No, I don’t think that far ahead. Of course, I have ideas about what I want to do with each painting and which ones I want to connect, but in the end, I decide once I’m at the Ohara Museum of Art, arranging the exhibition.
I came here with things written on an illustration board, but I left some of them out. So I decided on the final arrangement here (at the Ohara Museum of Art).
Is it like making a bento, where you know what ingredients you have, but decide on the final arrangement by laying them out?
I tend to picture museum exhibitions as being arranged quite neatly, but your displays feel free-form, with all kinds of different arrangements. Do you deliberately arrange them that way?
Takamatsu
Yes, that’s right.
To put it simply, some of them are like “comic panels.”
I make works based on photographs and videos I’ve taken myself, but if I simply turn them into “a single work,” I start wondering where my own awareness will slip into it.
So I create my work thinking that deciding how to arrange what I’ve seen is part of the work itself.
Could you share a final message?
Takamatsu
With any work of art, not just mine, the moment you feel it has something to do with you, it stops being something that belongs to someone else.
Those moments are what I love so much, and why I paint, so I’ve tried to provide lots of what you might call “hooks to get you started.”
So I hope you’ll look for your own hook.
From the Writer
When we hear the word “art,” we tend to overthink it, feeling that we have to “figure something out.”
Seeing Takamatsu Asuka’s work made me feel that perhaps there’s no need to think that way.
I hope you’ll visit the Ohara Museum of Art and look for the many “hooks” Takamatsu has prepared.
AM Kurashiki vol.17: Takamatsu Asuka — Light Travels Around the World Information
| Name | AM Kurashiki vol.17: Takamatsu Asuka — Light Travels Around the World |
|---|---|
| Dates | February 17 (Sat) to April 14 (Sun), 2024 * Until February 29: 9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m. * From March 1 onward: 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. * Closed every Monday |
| Location | 1-1-15 Chuo, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture |
| Admission (tax included) | [General admission] Adults: ¥2,000 High school, junior high school, and elementary school students: ¥500 |
| Website | AM Kurashiki (Artist Meets Kurashiki) vol.17: Takamatsu Asuka — Light Travels Around the World |
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