amanaTIGP is pleased to present Yoshiyuki Okuyama's solo exhibition "windows" from June 10 to July 8, 2023. Marking the artist's fist showcasing at amanaTIGP and first solo show in four years, the exhibition features around 25 works from a series of photographs that solely capture the opaque windows of houses across Tokyo. This series consists of an extensive number of approximately 100,000 photographs and was taken over a period of two and a half years from April 2020 to November 2022 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tokyo is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, and when looking at each home in its crowded neighborhoods, one notices that many windows are fitted with opaque sheets of glass such as figured glass and what is commonly referred to as frosted glass. The scenery observed through the vertical and horizontal screens manifest as landscape paintings that convey the outside scenery to the closed inner space. At the same time, for the outside world, it potentially acts as a portrait of sorts that depicts the lives of people who live in the depths of these inorganic square frames. The everyday items and miscellaneous objects seen through the opaque glass are abstracted, and due to this very abstraction, the lives of the people who live there are presented as an uncertain meandering that can neither be informatized nor verbalized, even giving the impression as if projecting the inner thoughts of a stranger.
The artist describes windows, considerably a product of contradiction that satisfies the conflicting desires of human beings who wish to enjoy the benefits of the outdoors while seeking an indoor environment, as "also fulfilling the role of a 'juncture' that facilitates a connection between each individual 'person' and 'society.'" The exhibition space manifests as a microcosm of the small but chaotic city of Tokyo, dispersed throughout with works of different sizes and window frame widths that serve to shed light on the diverse and eclectic nature of its neighborhoods. We hope viewers will enjoy this exhibition, which indeed could be perceived as a transitional period for Okuyama's oeuvre.
New book will be published in conjunction with the exhibition.
Photo：Yoshiyuki Okuyama "windows ♯1", 2022, archival pigment print © Yoshiyuki Okuyama / Courtesy of amanaTIGP
| Event period |
Saturday, June 10 to Saturday, July 8 |
|---|---|
| Time | 12:00 ー 19:00 |
| ＊Opening hours will change from 12:00 - 17:00 on Sat, Jun 10. | |
| Closed | Sundays, Mondays, and Holidays |
| Venue | amanaTIGP |