Aranya Art Center is pleased to present Japanese artist Yuko Mohri’s first solo museum exhibition in China, featuring a series of photographs, a newly commissioned indoor installation and a group of outdoor sound sculptures. Moré and Moré is the artist’s first large-scale presentation in China, following the inauguration of the Japan Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale, which has embraced international acclaim and attention.
Yuko Mohri deciphers formal differences among objects of similar functional use across cultures and regions. The newly commissioned installation Moré Moré (Leaky): Variations is inspired by Mohri’s observation of water leaks
in Tokyo’s subway stations. Starting in 2009, she has been intrigued by the subway staff’s witty implementation of such objects as buckets, tarps, and umbrellas to mitigate infrastructural failure. In Japan, where earthquakes are rather common, these ad hoc responses to smaller crises also reflect the agency and creative potential of ordinary individuals. Taking it as a point of departure, the artist intentionally constructs small-scale crises and corresponding repair mechanisms in her installations. The trickling water and quivering hose, both witty and unsettling, serve as metaphors for social and ecological dilemmas while underscoring the human presence.
Through the process of re-assemblage, Mohri also narrates stories about the circulation of local and foreign day-to-day products. Her appropriation of the ready-mades encourages viewers to deliberate over their utilization in regard to the use of mass produced goods.
The uncertainty and contingency in Mohri’s work are also intimately tied. to her interest in experimental and improvisational music. Hence, sound is a common element in her work. The commissioned work Untitled (Rotary Speakers), on view in the atrium, is the artist’s first outdoor sound sculpture revolving around thoughts about energies arising from rotating movement.
Moré and Moré is organized by Damien Zhang, Director of the Aranya Art Center, and Curatorial Assistant Gao Liangjiao. The exhibition is on view from July 14 through October 13, 2024.
This exhibition is supported by the Japan Foundation, Beijing.