SP2 ‘New Born’ (Viper A) 2007
Mixed media in acrylic case
67 x 28 x 18 cm
Private Collection
Photo: Kioku Keizo
Courtesy: YAMAMOTO GENDAI, Tokyo
Odani Motohiko: ‘Phantom Limb’ As part of its 2010 exhibition program on the theme of “redefining Japan,” the Mori Art Museum is pleased to present ‘Odani Motohiko: Phantom Limb,’ which is the artist’s most comprehensive solo exhibition held in a museum from27 November, 2010, till 27 February, 2011]]>
December 2nd, 2010 – Source: Mori Art Museum
Since studying sculpture at Tokyo University of the Arts, Odani Motohiko has created adynamic body of work using diverse media such as sculpture, photography and video. Hisunique style of expression and his aesthetic sense have won him acclaim both in Japanand abroad. In 2003 he was selected as one of the artists to represent Japan at the VeniceBiennale and he has also participated in the Istanbul Biennale and the Gwangju Biennale.
Sculpture is by its nature a physical and time-consuming endeavor. Generally involving heavymaterials, such as stone or wood, sculpture conveys a sense of volume and weightiness.As though to undermine these notions, Odani’s sculptural works give visual representationto “phantoms” that are not visible or that have no physical form at all. This approach hasremained consistent throughout his career.
The abstract sensations and psychological states that are given expression in Odani’s works –fear, pain, unease, tactile sensations – remind us of things that we have otherwise forgotten,or tried to forget. A dress made of hair, an animal in a restraining device, a mysterious younggirl, a samurai’s wraith-like emaciated horse, water falling over a waterfall: Each of the works’multifaceted images defies a single interpretation. Occupying the territory between beauty andugliness, life and death and the spiritual and the secular, the works have an ominous attractionthat seems to appeal directly to the subconscious. Odani’s video works are for him forms ofsculpture, too – sculpture in which he can control the element of time – and they also functionas devices for grasping things that otherwise cannot be seen.
In addition to many sculptures Odani has made over the last decade, this exhibitionincludes an immersive video installation – a kind of “video sculpture.” There are also newworks exploring phenomena that are fundamental to the workings of the world: gravity,rotation, circulation. With artworks that transcend the concept of sculpture in theirattempts to capture existence from all perspectives, this exhibition helps us discover thepotential of artistic expression to explore the borders between the visible and the invisibleand the physical and the spiritual.
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