Yoshihiro Suda
12 Sep - 31 Oct 2014
YOSHIHIRO SUDA
12 September - 31 October 2014
On September 12th Galería Elvira González will inaugurate the new season with first solo show in Spain of the Japanese artist Yoshihiro Suda. The show will feature the artist’s small, hyperrealist wood sculptures of plants and flowers.
For Suda, the gallery as well as its environment are fundamental for the completion of the creative act. Suda's sculptures are conceived of as interventions which are subtly layered over existing space. Each sculpture is only half of the total work of art; the other half is the work’s installation.
Surprise is also a key element in Suda’s work; upon entering the gallery, visitors will find themselves wondering if something has escaped their attention. Although viewers will be aware that it is highly unlikely that plants might be growing from the walls of an art gallery, nonetheless the realism of each sculpture demands closer inspection. This blurring of the limit between reality and illusion lends the sculptures a surrealist quality and, in the words of the artist, “converts the commonplace into the amazing.”
Yoshihiro Suda (Yamanashi, Japan, 1969) first developed an interest in creating carved plant sculptures while still a student at the Tama Art University in Tokyo in the early 90’s. At the time Conceptual Art was the dominant mode and the possibility that art might be decorative or aesthetic was not a high priority; as a result, Suda’s work came on as a surprise. Suda’s goal was to create artworks that would be unique and yet would not require familiarity with contemporary art theory to be understood. In fact, Suda’s self-taught sculptural technique combines traditional carving methods with the contemporary artistic concept of incorporating everyday life into art.
Influenced by the Japanese tradition of large-scale sculpture, Suda made the decision to exhibit plants and shrubbery, challenging our preconceptions about what constitutes a “work of art.” At the same time, these sculptures renew traditional ideas of beauty and craft in art, inviting the viewer to pay greater attention to the apparently insignificant decoration that might be found in commonplace objects.
Yoshihiro Suda lives and works in Tokyo. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world, including the Contemporary Art Centre of Melbourne (Australia), the Palais de Beaux Arts of Lille (France), the Kyoto Art Centre (Japan) during the Kyoto Biennial, and the group show Out of the Ordinary at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. His work forms part of international collections such as the National Museum of Art in Tokyo, the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art in Seoul, the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Australia, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the New Art Gallery Walsall in Birmingham, the Jumex Museum Collection in Mexico and the Benesse House collection in the island of Naoshima (Japan).
The exhibition forms part of the Apertura 2014 programme, during which Madrid’s leading gallery’s will join together to initiate the new season.
12 September - 31 October 2014
On September 12th Galería Elvira González will inaugurate the new season with first solo show in Spain of the Japanese artist Yoshihiro Suda. The show will feature the artist’s small, hyperrealist wood sculptures of plants and flowers.
For Suda, the gallery as well as its environment are fundamental for the completion of the creative act. Suda's sculptures are conceived of as interventions which are subtly layered over existing space. Each sculpture is only half of the total work of art; the other half is the work’s installation.
Surprise is also a key element in Suda’s work; upon entering the gallery, visitors will find themselves wondering if something has escaped their attention. Although viewers will be aware that it is highly unlikely that plants might be growing from the walls of an art gallery, nonetheless the realism of each sculpture demands closer inspection. This blurring of the limit between reality and illusion lends the sculptures a surrealist quality and, in the words of the artist, “converts the commonplace into the amazing.”
Yoshihiro Suda (Yamanashi, Japan, 1969) first developed an interest in creating carved plant sculptures while still a student at the Tama Art University in Tokyo in the early 90’s. At the time Conceptual Art was the dominant mode and the possibility that art might be decorative or aesthetic was not a high priority; as a result, Suda’s work came on as a surprise. Suda’s goal was to create artworks that would be unique and yet would not require familiarity with contemporary art theory to be understood. In fact, Suda’s self-taught sculptural technique combines traditional carving methods with the contemporary artistic concept of incorporating everyday life into art.
Influenced by the Japanese tradition of large-scale sculpture, Suda made the decision to exhibit plants and shrubbery, challenging our preconceptions about what constitutes a “work of art.” At the same time, these sculptures renew traditional ideas of beauty and craft in art, inviting the viewer to pay greater attention to the apparently insignificant decoration that might be found in commonplace objects.
Yoshihiro Suda lives and works in Tokyo. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world, including the Contemporary Art Centre of Melbourne (Australia), the Palais de Beaux Arts of Lille (France), the Kyoto Art Centre (Japan) during the Kyoto Biennial, and the group show Out of the Ordinary at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. His work forms part of international collections such as the National Museum of Art in Tokyo, the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art in Seoul, the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Australia, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the New Art Gallery Walsall in Birmingham, the Jumex Museum Collection in Mexico and the Benesse House collection in the island of Naoshima (Japan).
The exhibition forms part of the Apertura 2014 programme, during which Madrid’s leading gallery’s will join together to initiate the new season.