In The Shadow Of Olympus

Curators /
Paul Komada, Ko Irkt, Maho Hikino, Junko Yamamoto

Paul Komada
Yuki Nakamura
Ko Irkt
Maho Hikino
Tokio Kuniyoshi
Masaya Nakayama
Kakeru Asai
Saki Kitamura
Junko Yamamoto
Mayu Kuroda

March 01 – 31, 2018
Reception / Thursday, March 01, 6–8pm

Performance / Meeting Table: Thursday, March 01, 6:30–7pm

Less than a second after the flame was extinguished in Rio de Janeiro, the machination of the Olympics has commenced its tumbling journey aimed toward Tokyo. If there was a straight flight path connecting the two cities, the airplane would fly over Seattle with a payload of extreme anticipation and anxiety. The exhibition revolves around the idea of politics, economy, history, and the symbology of the long standing global ceremony. The forthcoming Tokyo Olympics preparation and promotion will be examined from the point of view of Japanese artists with various sentiments ranging from positively enthusiastic to pessimistically dystopian.

The participating artists are members of Japanese artist collective Art Beasties, based in Seattle, NY, London and Tokyo. The group members frequently engage each other, intersecting multiple time-zones through Skype meetings, in order to shape and advance the projects.

During the opening reception, Art Beasties, connected via Skype and physically present in SOIL gallery, will conduct a meeting. This “open-process” performance will be filmed and recorded simultaneously in multiple points of view. The recordings will be analyzed and edited in order to contemplate on the place for, and function of a Japanese Artists Collective in the world today.