We are pleased to announce the exhibition “The National Monogatari, Okutama -December’s Aurora-” by the two artists, Masahiro WADA and Tomohiro NAGAHATA. This is a collaborative exhibition by the artist collective “The National Museum of Art, Okutama (MOAO)” and LOKO GALLERY; and the second exhibition of the ongoing projects that MOAO has developed as a series from October 2019 to spring of 2020.

In recent years, Masahiro WADA has produced mainly video works. These works has involved various forms of fine arts: large-scale movable installation, performance, or sculpture. So now he is tackling the production of “a movie”. This is on the extension of his past video works; but more people are concerning it, and more various elements are involved in it. This will be his largest work ever. The movie is planned to be completed in 2021. So in a series of these “Aurora” exhibitions, he has tried to do performance or shooting in the exhibition, and to show the movie’s materials that were born from the actions, one after another. In the exhibition place, the creation of the movie progress moment by moment; so the place and movie erode mutually. The circumstances ask questions about the usual positions of “movie” or “fine arts”, so cross the boundary flexibly. Also in “December’s Aurora”, the production of the unknown movie will progress and develop gradually.

On the other hand, Tomohiro NAGAHATA is a artist who handles two media, sculpture and manga. Perhaps, the connection of the two fields may seem to be weak. But NAGAHATA’s works have the peculiarity that we immediately can perceive at a glance, in both two fields. That results from his cross-cutting technique of production. For instance : sometimes he adopts the photos of his sculptures into his manga, or sculpts the characters that he has drawn in the manga works. The materials of his sculptures are cardboard or styrofoam; they look cheap and kitsch, but simultaneously, connote the challenging shape that can’t be born from normal idea regarding sculpture. And the manga work has got a prize from “AX” that is representative of Japanese avant‐garde manga magazine; his works have unique styles that are clearly different from conventional manga. Some of these styles probably occur from the process in that he adopts sense of sculpture into manga. The two fields, sculpture and manga organically influence each other in him, and link to the fresh expression. In this exhibition, as the newest work of his sculptures, his first bronze work will be exhibited.

“The National Monogatari, Okutama -December’s Aurora-” by these two artists, will be recomposition and development of “October’s Aurora”, and link to the sequels that will be holden after February 2020. Please witness where this experimental challange will land.

ARTIST PROFILE: Masahiro Wada Tomohiro Nagahata Masahiro Satsuka