Hara Museum ARC

Art Scope, a mécénat activity of Daimler Foundation Japan, provides contemporary artists from Japan and Germany the chance to experience life within a different culture. The Hara Museum has been a partner in the Art Scope program since 2003, hosting an exhibition to showcase the results of that artistic exchange. For this exhibition, we feature the German artists Rita Hensen and Benedikt Partenheimer (Japan, 2012) and the Japanese artists Ryosuke Imamura and Satoshi Ohno (Germany, 2013). Each artist will present new works created since the completion of their residencies.

It’s safe to say that since ancient times, humans have been creatures that travel. The tradition of religious pilgrimages was already an old one in eras when travel was beset with hardships. Over time as the means of transport progressed, travel took on various forms. For example, during the 18th century, for the English upper classes, the “Grand Tour” became the finishing touch in the education of their children. In modern Japan, the overseas “school excursion” is a standard part of the school curriculum. And now in the 21st century, travel – both business and vacation –has become a vital factor in the economic activity of every country.

Climate, landscape, language, ethnicity, culture and society –these are aspects that make travel the precious and significant experience that it is. How then do the sights and feelings experienced as part of the Art Scope program stimulate the work of these artists upon returning home? Of the paintings, photographs, installations and other artwork that appear in this exhibition, those “remains of their travel” may be directly reflected in some, but harder to discern in others. The results may be described as four approaches by four individuals to crystallize the experience of travel not in the form of an impression or a travel report, but in the form of artwork. In so doing, they reaffirm the delightful diversity of contemporary art and invite us to rethink what it means as humans to “travel.”

Please note that following the end of this exhibition, it will travel to the Daimler Contemporary in Berlin, Germany in 2015.

【Participating Artists】

Ryosuke IMAMURA
Born in 1982 in Kyoto, Japan. Lives in Kyoto. MFA Kyoto City University School of Fine Arts. Exhibited at such venues as the Yokohama Trienniale (2011, Yokohama,Japan) the Tatsuno Art Project (2012/13, Hyogo) and “Rokko Meets Art (2012/13, Hyogo). He creates small, delicate installations that incorporate subtle phenomena mainly of light and sound, inspiried by everyday life or memories. Visitors experience “space” in the form of art, and the “time” that flows in that space through light and sound. For this exhibition, he will show new installations. Photo: SHINJI MINEGISHI

Satoshi OHNO
Born in 1980 in Gifu Prefecture. Lives in Yamanashi prefecture. MFA Tokyo Zokei University, Tokyo, Japan. Has exhibited at such venues as the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial (2009, Niigata) and REAL JAPANESQUE: The Unique World of Japanese Contemporary Art (2012, National Museum of Art, Osaka, Osaka, Japan). Ohno explores the possibilities of painting within a 21st century digital era based on his reading of Eastern and Western art history. His art is characterized by symbolic and energetic images in which conflict or fusion occurs between the natural and the artificial, the organic and the inorganic. He will present new paintings for the exhibition. Photo: SHINJI MINEGISHI

Rita HENSEN
Born in 1960 in Bedburg, nearby Cologne, Germany. Lives and works in Munich. Studied at the Academy of Visual Arts in Munich. Has exhibited in many solo and group shows in Germany and abroad. She creates work in various media such as drawing, sculpture, photographs and in a variety of materials such as paper. Born in 1960 in Bedburg, nearby Cologne, Germany. Lives and works in Munich. Studied at the Academy of Visual Arts in Munich. Has exhibited in many solo and group shows in Germany and abroad. She creates work in various media such as drawing, sculpture, photographs and in a variety of materials such as paper. She will present photographs taken at various places in Japan during her residency, sometimes in juxtaposition with those taken in Germany, as well as objects and drawings made on themes drawn from landscapes and things encountered in Japan.

Benedikt PARTENHEIMER
Born in 1977 in Munich, Germany. Lives in Berlin. Studied at the LMU University in Munich, the RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia and the Parsons School for Design in New York. During a short time in New York he assisted Richard Avedon. Since 2003, his work has been presented in numerous international solo and group exhibitions. His photography is both straight and conceptual, exemplified in such works as his Turnaround series (2006) of unique portraits taken with a zoom lens of people from behind. His work in this exhibition will include new work in this series, as well as photos and videos taken in Japan as quiet observations of Japanese society.

Featured artists

Rita Hensen, Benedikt Partenheimer, Ryosuke Imamura, Satoshi Ohno

Organized by

Hara Museum of Contemporary Art and Daimler Foundation Japan

Under the auspices of

Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Japan

Supported by

Mercedes-Benz Japan Co., Ltd., Mercedes-Benz Finance Co., Ltd. and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation

Cooperation provided by

Arts Initiative Tokyo [AIT]