Ryota Aoyagi: “SANDPLAY”
November 15 Friday, 2024 – December 7 Saturday, 2024 (closed Sundays, Mondays and holidays)
Opening reception: Friday, November 15, 18:00–20:00
Gallery hours: 13:00–19:00
Venue: LAG (LIVE ART GALLERY)
Daiwa Jingumae Bldg. 1F, 2-4-11 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001
In cooperation with Gallery Koyanagi
In hindsight, as a small child I exhibited all the classic signs of OCD. I found it impossible to settle unless any exercise books on my desk were positioned perfectly parallel to the edge, and would keep making endless tiny adjustments to ensure that they were. They had to be in the exactly the right place, or I would feel restless and ill at ease.
I also devised endless rules known only to myself, far too many to list here. Adhering strictly to these helped bring my own peculiar order to the world.
Around the age of nineteen, exposure therapy freed me from most of these rules.
Yet something I still persisted in doing, was arranging objects in the correct position in a space, in the same way as I had arranged those exercise books in the correct position on my desk. In the most suitable place, that is, the place that would show off their beauty the most. Defining the contours of this world, securing what is for me the solid reality of beauty, by finding the perfect balance of harmony, order, and attractiveness. I also use gold lines in my works, connecting space and object, repairing their relationship in the manner of kintsug
I suspect this latest work will turn out to be an iconic one for me, as the culmination of all my trial and error to date: SANDPLAY that draws a map reflecting the world, in the limited space of a square box.
Ryota Aoyagi
From Friday November 15, to Saturday December 7, LAG is excited to present “SANDPLAY,” a solo exhibition by Ryota Aoyagi.
Launching his career as an artist in 2005 after graduating from Tama Art University, Aoyagi’s work to date has been dominated by conceptual installations employing objects chosen with his unique eye for beauty. His oeuvre is characterized by a persistent quest for new contexts, meanings, and scenes, achieved by selecting then combining and reconstructing a group of objects differing in era, provenance and purpose.
For this exhibition unveiling a new series titled “SANDPLAY” (ie sandtray therapy) a “sand tray” for the artist himself will be set up in the venue. Throughout history, humans have woven the various stories we call myths, to help them construct a relationship with the world. We hope visitors will discern and read the secret stories incorporated in the tiny, restricted realm of the “sand tray” here.
Also on display as a special feature of the exhibition, and available for purchase, will be the catalogue (published by Bijutsu Shuppan-sha, printed by LIVE ART BOOKS) from the “Furodougu SAKATA Our Choice” exhibition staged this year at By Art Matters in Hangzhou, China, and curated by Aoyagi. Don’t miss this excellent opportunity to check it out.
RELATED EXHIBITIONS
UNSOLD UNSOLD
Artists: Hiroshi Sugimoto, Sophie Calle, Ryota Aoyagi
Thursday, November 21–Saturday, December 14 (closed Sundays, Mondays and holidays)
Opening reception: Thursday, November 21, 17:00–19:00
Gallery hours: 12:00–19:00
Venue: Gallery Koyanagi
Daiwa Koyanagi Bldg. 9F, 1-7-5 Ginza, Chu-ku, Tokyo 104-0061
https://www.gallerykoyanagi.com/
BOOKS
Furudougu SAKATA Our Choice
(limited number for sale at the gallery)
Published by Culture Convenience Club
Distributed by Bijutsu Shuppan-sha
© By Art Matters
Design: Yokoyama Tomohiro
Text in Chinese, Japanese, and English
¥25,000 + tax
Format/Specifications: B5 / slipcase box, fold-flat style hardcover, shrink-wrapped
830 pages (415 unbound sheets)
Kazumi Sakata (1945–2022) was an antique art dealer of exquisite taste, and the catalogue for “Furodougu SAKATA Our Choice,” Sakata’s first solo exhibition in China, was assembled under the supervision of Ryota Aoyagi, who served as curator of the exhibition. In addition to images of the 456 items in the exhibition (with 364 plates), and installation views at the Renzo Piano-designed By Art Matters museum in Hangzhou, China, this substantial volume contains written contributions from By Art Matters founder Li Lin; Toshifumi Tsukimori of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum, and art critic Ryo Sawayama.
The catalogue is composed as a collection of 415 unbound sheets/830 pages giving equal status to content and the condition of the exhibition materials, and allowing the reader to choose their own order and move the pages around.
PROFILE
Ryota Aoyagi
Born 1976 in Osaka, lives in Kyoto. Contemporary artist. Graduate of Tama Art University. Since 2005 has presented installations consisting mainly of found objects. From 2010 spent several years running an antique store in a backstreet of Kagurazaka, Tokyo, and is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to antiques and antique art. In 2014 joined Hiroshi Sugimoto and Sophie Calle in the “UNSOLD” exhibition at Gallery Koyanagi. In 2017 staged the exhibitions “2015” and “2016” in an air-raid shelter at a private home in Tokyo, these shows attracting interest from many quarters despite being only nine days in duration and requiring bookings to view. In 2019 staged “sign” at Gallery Koyanagi. In 2024 curated “Furodougu SAKATA Our Choice” at By Art Matters in the Chinese city of Hangzhou. Has been contributing essays under the series title “Eureka” to art magazine Bijutsu Techo since March 2018.