Aranya Art Center is pleased to present Japanese artist Yuko Mohri's first solo museum exhibition in China, featuring a series of photographs, a newly commissioned indoor installation and a group of outdoor sound sculptures. Moré and Moré is the artist's first large-scale presentation in China, following the inauguration of the Japan Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale, which has embraced international acclaim and attention.
Yuko Mohri deciphers formal differences among objects of similar functional use across cultures and regions. The newly commissioned installation Moré Moré (Leaky): Variations is inspired by Mohri's observation of water leaks in Tokyo's subway stations. Starting in 2009, she has been intrigued by the subway staff’s witty implementation of such objects as buckets, tarps, and umbrellas to mitigate infrastructural failure. In Japan, where earthquakes are rather common, these ad hoc responses to smaller crises also reflect the agency and creative potential of ordinary individuals. Taking it as a point of departure, the artist intentionally constructs small-scale crises and corresponding repair mechanisms in her installations. The trickling water and quivering hose, both witty and unsettling, serve as metaphors for social and ecological dilemmas while underscoring the human presence.
Through the process of re-assemblage, Mohri also narrates stories about the circulation of local and foreign day-to-day products. Her appropriation of the ready-mades encourages viewers to deliberate over their utilization in regard to the use of mass produced goods.
Moré and Moré is organized by Damien Zhang, Director of the Aranya Art Center, and Curatorial Assistant Gao Liangjiao. The exhibition is on view from July 14 through October 13, 2024.
This exhibition is supported by the Japan Foundation, Beijing.
Yuko Mohri
B. 1980 in Kanagawa, Japan. Lives and works in Tokyo.
Yuko Mohri is an artist who creates installation and sculpture not to compose (or construct) but to focus on "events" that constantly shift according to various conditions, such as the environment including natural phenomena. In recent years, she has also explored this idea through video and photography. Yuko Mohri is the representative artist of the Japan Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale.
In 2015, Mohri received a grant from the Asian Cultural Council for a residency in New York. In the same year, she received Grand Prix, Nissan Art Award. In 2016, Mohri took residencies at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and at Camden Arts Centre, London. In 2018 she was an East Asian Cultural Exchange Envoy, visiting 4 cities in China. In 2019, she received a grant from the Institut français for a residency in Paris. She has participated in numerous international group exhibitions including the 14th Gwangju Biennale (2023), the 23rd Biennale of Sydney (2022), the 2021 Asian Art Biennial, the 34th Bienal de São Paulo (2021), Glasgow International 2021, the 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (2018), the 14th Biennale de Lyon (2017) and Kochi-Muziris Biennale (2016).
