2024年1月15日 ー 2024年2月3日January 15, 2024 - February 03, 2024
ヒノギャラリーでは2024年1月15日(月)より「虎尾裕 新作展《森林限界を行く》」を開催いたします。
人生はたびたび登山に例えられることがありますが、虎尾はそこに「彫刻」を加えて語ることのできる稀な作家かもしれません。1980年代より石を主材に制作を始め、その作品のほとんどは、森や山脈といった自然のなかで作家が得た感覚、またそこで感じ見た光景によって生み出されています。そもそも天然物を素材とし、少しずつ彫り進める石彫という行為は、自然へ分け入って、一歩一歩頂を目指す登山とどこか共通するように感じますが、虎尾はその二つの営為を、自身が媒介となって相互に作用させながら、独自の作品をつくり出すことを続けてきました。
虎尾は近年、「何処か美しい山域に導かれ、麓から頂へ辿るアプローチの行動における連続する情景を複合的に捉えるため」に「タイトルの一部に動的な言葉を挿入」するようになったといい、それは、作家が山岳体験で知覚したあらゆる情景や断片的なイメージを石塊で再構築するという、これまでの制作における試行とつながります。しかし今回、「一度これらの表現手法を排除して」みたといいます。石に複合的なイメージの表出を求めるのではなく、もっと生身の、身体性に委ねた制作を目指し、インプットとなる実際の登山においては、山域を限定、峰々を日をかけて縦走し、ひとつの山頂を往復するなど、より内的で克己的な反復行動へと制限することで、自身に宿った身体感覚が何らかのかたちで石へと表れ出ることを期待しました。これはイメージや情景といったうつろいやすい事象を拠りどころとしたこれまでの手法に比べ、より直截的で具体性を求める試みといえ、作品名に含まれる動的な言葉がまた、身体との結び付きを一層深いものにしています。
これらの行為はさながら修行のようにも思えますが、今回の展覧会に付されたタイトルが示唆するように、ある領域へと達し、それを超えてはじめて、まだ見ぬ世界や表現に触れることができると、虎尾はこれまでの経験から確信しており、だからこそ歩みを止めず、手を動かし続けているのかもしれません。
生活においては、3月で長年務めてきた教育の現場を離れ、ひとつの大きな節目を迎える虎尾ですが、彼にとって悠々たる安住の意識は、少なくとも今回の展覧会に向けては感じられず、むしろ、新たな境地を目指し、さらなる一歩を踏み込んでいこうと臨む意欲がうかがえます。その姿勢は今回の新作においてどう現れているのか、是非ご高覧くださいませ。
Hino gallery is pleased to present "Going to the Timberline" by Yutaka Torao from Monday, January 15th, 2024.
The journey of life can be compared to climbing a mountain, and Torao may be one of only a few artists who could include his 'sculpture' as part of this analogous metaphor. He began working mainly with stone in the 1980s, and most of his works are created by the sensations he perceives from nature, such as forests and mountains, and the scenes he feels and sees there. The act of stone carving, in which natural materials are used and carved little by little, seems to have something in common with mountain climbing, in which one goes into nature and aims for the summit step by step, but Torao has continued to create his works in a unique way by interacting with these two activities, acting as his own mediator.
Torao says that in recent years, he has begun to "insert dynamic words (verb) in some of the titles of my works" in order to "capture a complex of continuous scenes in the action of approaching from the foot to the top, guided by some beautiful mountain area," which is connected to his previous attempts to reconstruct with stone blocks any scenes and fragmentary images he perceived in his mountain experiences. However, this time, he says, he tried "once and for all to eliminate these methods of expression.” Rather than seeking to create a composite image in stone, he aimed to create a work that was more physically driven, and in the actual mountaineering, which served as input for his creation, by restricting himself to more internal, self-directed, repetitive activities, such as limiting his mountain range, traversing the peaks for days at a time, and making a single summit return again and again, he hoped that his physical sensations gained through the activities would somehow manifest themselves in the stone. This is an attempt to be more direct and concrete than the artist's previous methods, which were based on images and scenes that are subject to change, and the dynamic words contained in the titles of the works also make their connection to the body even deeper. These actions may seem like Shugyo- deep mind-body training, but as the title of this exhibition suggests, Torao is convinced by his past experience that only after reaching and surpassing a certain realm can he come into connect with a world and expression that has yet to be reached, and perhaps this is why he keeps moving forward and creating works.
In terms of his life, Torao will leave the educational field he has worked in for many years in March, marking a major milestone in his life, but he does not seem to have a sense of ease and tranquility, at least not for this exhibition. Rather, he shows a willingness to go the extra mile to break new ground. Please come and see how this attitude is manifested in his new works.