Author Archives: Katsura Ishikawa

Announcing Kim Karlsrud’s Exhibition “100% Natural 100% Artificial”

We are pleased to announce an exhibition 100% Natural 100% Artificial by Kim Karlsrud on May 25(Sat.) & 26(Sun.), as a result of her activity during her stay at Studio Kura.

Kim Karlsrud’s public installations and (sometimes unsanctioned) interventions examine the broad meanings and complexities of urban ecology at many scales. She is the co-founder of Commonstudio, a collaborative creative practice with international projects and research exploring the disciplinary grey areas between landscape, urbanism, and public practice.

Here are some words from the artist herself.

Urban landscapes can be viewed from many scales and perspectives in an attempt to understand the conditions of the contemporary metropolis as a complex ecosystem. In the context of our “post-wild” world, reconciling “nature” and “city” into a more seamless space of understanding becomes an increasingly urgent challenge.

The work done at Studio Kura are a series of material experiments that blur the line between what is natural and artificial, and play with both aesthetics and the modification of nature, encouraging viewers to reconsider what is nature.

Karlsrud_Postcard2

Kim Karlsrud “100% Natural 100% Artificial”
Exhibition style: Material Experiments/Installation
Date: May 25 (Saturday) and 26 (Sunday), 11:00 to 18:00.
* We will hold an artist talk on 25th (Sat.), starting at 15:00.
* The exhibitions by other current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

Announcing Arne Kohlweyer’s Film Screening “Drübenland – The Land Over There”

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We are pleased to announce a film screening Drübenland – The Land Over There by Arne Kohlweyer on May 25(Sat.) & 26(Sun.).

Arne Kohlweyer is a filmmaker, writer and photographer originally from Berlin.
He finished his post-graduate studies in film directing at FAMU in Prague. Prior to that he studied photography in Graz, Austria, literature in Frankfurt/Oder, Germany and film theory at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. Arne has made various short films, directed for German television and got 2017 nominated for the prestigious Grimme-Award (equivalent to the German Emmys). He was a Berlinale Talent, a participant of the Locarno Summer Academy and the Torino Film Lab.

Here are some words from the artist himself.

It is an ordinary day in autumn 1989 at a new concrete tower block estate in the northeast of Berlin. Seven-year-old Marko is collecting money for his class trip with his best friend Ecki. His older siblings are fighting over the family’s only sex education book and the grandfather has all hands full to keep his grandchildren under control. And even though Marko’s parents are on holiday, he still has to go to bed much too early. But the very next morning something seems different. A sort of wall has fallen over. What’s the big deal? Can’t it just get rebuilt? And this is the only reason why gym class is cancelled? But things get worse: Marko’s teacher has run off to a country called “over there” with the class fund, his older sister is severely depressed, the middle brother couldn’t be happier about the new western magazines – and all because of “over there”. What is it, this so called “over there”? As his parents aren’t actually around, Marko has to find out by himself.

Arne Kohlweyer “Drübenland – The Land Over There: 向こう側の地”
Exhibition style: Short Film
Date: May 25 (Saturday) and 26 (Sunday), 11:00 to 18:00.
* We will hold an artist talk on 25th (Sat.), starting at 15:00.
* The exhibitions by other current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

Announcing Meredith Bardo’s Exhibition “A fragile chain to link us together”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition A fragile chain to link us together by Meredith Bardo on May 25(Sat.) & 26(Sun.), as a result of her activity during her stay at Studio Kura.

Meredith Bardo is a Multi-Media artist and Graphic Designer living in Chicago. She has a BFA in Illustration, from Pacific Northwest College of Art. She currently works as the Brand Manager at a non-profit. Her work is filled with colorful shapes, patterns and cute, puffy characters. She is interested in themes of identity through outer-representation, often using symbols, objects and clothing as an extension of ones personality. Her work varies in mediums, from digital to installation, but always encompasses the same overarching style and themes she’s drawn to.

Here are some words from the artist herself.

Accessories made from universal symbols, to connect worlds both personal and shared. Think of familiarity and comfort. Please take this small token and meet my friends.

Meredith Bardo “A fragile chain to link us together”
Exhibition style: Installation
Date: May 25 (Saturday) and 26 (Sunday), 11:00 to 18:00.
* We will hold an artist talk on 25th (Sat.), starting at 15:00.
* The exhibitions by other current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

Announcing Katie Lennard’s Exhibition “Feedback”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition Feedback by Katie Lennard on May 25(Sat.) & 26(Sun.), as a result of her activity during her stay at Studio Kura.

Katie Lennard graduated from City and Guilds of London Art School in 2016 and has since exhibited her work internationally and in the UK.
Lennard commits to materiality in a temporary manner. Inspired by the Japanese concept of ‘Kitsune’, she will hunt for objects, their mythologies and theatrical potentials during her experience at Studio Kura. Using analogue and digital cameras as well as some hand-painted elements, she would like to document the local landscape, integrating self-timer performances, props and costumes she will construct in Japan.

Here are some words from the artist herself.

On collecting drift objects from beaches and retail spaces, I have replaced materials, thoughts and feelings from the studio at home with things I’ve picked up near Studio Kura. Returning to the chaos of nature and the narrative process of recording an environment, has reminded me of the cosmic dynamism of human expression.

Katie Lennard “Feedback”
Exhibition style: Multidisciplinary with a specific focus on assemblage, photography, painting and performance making
Date: May 25 (Saturday) and 26 (Sunday), 11:00 to 18:00.
* We will hold an artist talk on 25th (Sat.), starting at 15:00.
* The exhibitions by other current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

Announcing Trek Matthews’s Exhibition “Transfer Point: Kyūshū Local Lines”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition Transfer Point: Kyūshū Local Lines by Trek Matthews on May 25(Sat.) & 26(Sun.), as a result of his activity during his stay at Studio Kura.

Trek Matthews is a painter, illustrator and print designer based in Chicago. He concentrated in printmaking for his BFA at Georgia State University in Atlanta, and graduated in 2014. Since completing his studies, he has produced murals for public & corporate clients, and has since shown work at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, and abroad in Moscow with the Artmossphere Biennale. Trek explores spaces of transit infrastructure as physical hubs of memories, and their deeply instrumental and ubiquitous role in connecting society.

Here are some words from the artist himself.

Continuing on creating a personal catalogue of railway transit via personal travels, Trek Matthews is working to make compositions based on forms found on local lines in the Kyūshū region, to act as mementos and homages to their ubiquitous nature in supporting peoples’ lives.

Trek Matthews “Transfer Point: Kyūshū Local Lines トランスファーポイント：九州の閑散線区”
Exhibition style: Painting
Date: May 25 (Saturday) and 26 (Sunday), 11:00 to 18:00.
* We will hold an artist talk on 25th (Sat.), starting at 15:00.
* The exhibitions by other current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

Announcing Huiqi He’s Exhibition “Playtime /玩乐时间”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition Playtime /玩乐时间 by Huiqi He on May 25(Sat.) & 26(Sun.), as a result of her activity during her stay at Studio Kura.

Huiqi He’s work employs images, performances, installations, texts, and various mediums to explore the operation of disciplinary power in everyday life. She often engages metaphors and allegorical narratives to convey tensions and conflicts between individuals and societies in terms of formation and dissolution of subjectivity.
Huiqi He studied Traditional Chinese Painting (BFA) at Guangzhou Academy of Arts and Art Practice (MFA) at School of Visual Arts. Huiqi He now works and lives in New York Her work has been shown in Power Station Of Art, Jiangsu Center for the Performing Arts, Snap art center, etc.

Here are some words from the artist herself.

Playtime is Huiqi’s new video work. The video tells the story of a fabricated protagonist who, with standardized training and upbringing, becomes a symbol of the ideal, but then chooses to wander around the city, which is its playtime.
Playtime is one chapter of Huiqi’s long-term project “Ninth”.

Huiqi He “Playtime /玩乐时间”
Exhibition style: Photo，Shooting script
Date: May 25 (Saturday) and 26 (Sunday), 11:00 to 18:00.
* We will hold an artist talk on 25th (Sat.), starting at 15:00.
* The exhibitions by other current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

Announcing Jonathan Reid Sévigny’s Exhibition “A View of Uranus from the Rose Garden. “

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition A View of Uranus from the Rose Garden. by Jonathan Reid Sévigny on April 25(Thu.) to 27(Sat.), as a result of his activity during his stay at Studio Kura.

Montreal-based artist Jonathan Reid Sévigny is interested in pop culture and its intersection with queer politics, while at the same time using the specifics of his upbringing to inform certain regional references embedded in his work. Mediums such as drawing, painting, sculpture, video, performance and installation alike are used to create a complex web of experiential references that together create an ever-evolving meta-fiction.

Here are some words from the artist himself.

This collection of drawings and guache paintings explore what is said and what is seen when we look at popular art and its position in society. As queer artists – Are we smuggling our identities into the mainstream? These works are an exploration of what can interpreted as queer content and the contradicting social structure that they exist within. I’ve navigated my way through the pricks the rose garden and I’ve set up my telescope. I can finally gaze upon all of the beauty in the universe, but I’m struggling to get a clear focus of Uranus.

AJonathan Reid Sévigny “A View of Uranus from the Rose Garden.”
Exhibition style: drawing + painting

Date: April 25 (Thursday) to 27 (Saturday), 11:00 to 18:00.
* We will hold an artist talk on 27th (Sat.), starting at 15:00.
* The exhibitions by other current residence artists will be held at the same exhibition periods.

Announcing Aafke Bouman’s Exhibition “A person’s post”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition A person’s post by Aafke Bouman on April 25(Thu.) to 27(Sat.), as a result of her activity during her stay at Studio Kura.

Aafke Bouman (1994, Amsterdam, Netherlands) graduated from her Bachelor of Arts, Illustration at the HKU in 2017.

Within her imagery there is always a nomadic element to be found, both within the meaning and content as well as her way of working. The way she conjures images consists of an interplay between her own observations and its translation towards her illustrative works – here, documentation and fiction come together.

In her work Aafke has been exploring Itoshima’s historical narratives.
By doing so the artist wants to bring back the visual elements used in these Old Story’s and turn them into a new aesthetic experience.
Combining her historical research and her own documentation of the city of Itoshima, she wants to tell a story that has not yet been told, here fiction and documentation come together.

Aafke Bouman “A person’s post”
Exhibition style: Illustration

Announcing Bram Chilton Smiley’s Exhibition “Kuroshio”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition Kuroshio by Bram Chilton Smiley on April 25(Thu.) to 27(Sat.), as a result of his activity during his stay at Studio Kura.

Bram Chilton Smiley is a communication designer and illustrator living in the UK. His drawings often reference geographical features and landscapes in a monochromatic colour scheme that consider light and shadow and form his minimalistic style. He graduated from Norwich University of the Arts in 2018 and has since been developing his creative practice, combining the more expressive nature of his drawing with the structure of his design work.

The Kuroshio Current runs along Japan’s east coast and splits into the Tsushima Current that travels through the Sea of Japan. These currents carry warm subtropical waters that support the diverse marine life as well as acting as a gateway to the country. Bram’s project explores the visual language of graphs and charts that depict these ocean currents, studying the natural shapes in the movement of water.

Bram Chilton Smiley “Kuroshio”
Exhibition style: Installation

Announcing Marie Heléne Boone’s Exhibition “Sea Offerings”

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We are pleased to announce an exhibition Sea Offerings by Marie Heléne Boone on April 25(Thu.) to 27(Sat.), as a result of her activity during her stay at Studio Kura.

Marie Heléne Boone is a self taught multi-media artist based in Texas. Her work has been released in multiple publications varying from the United States to Spain. She has exhibited in Munich, Paris, Indianapolis, Dallas, and Los Angeles.
Tending to focus on the technical aspect of various sculpting methods, she has found that the idea of making a three dimensional object can be an abstract concept, existing beyond the physical plane. Boone enjoys studying the symbolism behind objects, however does not formulate opinions on the allegorical nature of her work before it is fully actualized.

A multidisciplinary artist from Texas, Marie Heléne Boone explores the varying landscapes of Fukuoka. Inspired by the diverse topography, Boone creates her own immersive experience from the regions landscape. The artist has created a series of wall sculptures accompanied by light installations formed out of materials scavenged from the beach. Boone has taken these forgotten objects out of their normal context and assigned a new purpose to them, viewing these entities like relics from a distant past. Literally and figuratively, the artist aims to shed light with this installation, in hopes to create a fresh dialogue.

Marie Heléne Boone “Sea Offerings”
Exhibition style: Multi-Media/Sculptural Installation