STANDING PINE

 STANDING PINE is pleased to present the group exhibition, “Songs of the Earth” open to the public from Saturday April 9th. This exhibition focuses on the relationship between art and nature by featuring three artists Kazuo Okazaki, Gianfranco Zappettini and Pe Lang.

 Kazuo Okazaki was born in 1930 and has been known as an artist who has continued to create various art objects by referring to everyday objects and images and inverting its truth. He established an idea called “Gyobutsu Hoi/ Object Supplément” that supplements what the traditional ways of viewing objects have overlooked. In the 1960s, he has been recognised by an art critic Shuzo Takiguchi, and from the 1990s and onward, he has again gained attention in the art world both nationally and internationally as one of the most significant Japanese post-war artists. This exhibition features his signature work “HISASHI” which was made in 1998 and a new work entitled “Shin Bou (Core Piller)”. The idea for HISASHI came from the eaves of buildings and it has been known as the work expresses precisely the concept he has called a “supplement,” since 1977. One of the artist’s main themes for making art, the element of “rest” is given a strong presence in HISASHI. Okazaki states “There are spaces in the natural world that are like the space under the eaves of a house, for example, the shade of rocks and trees that provides places of rest and shelter from the sun, rain and wind for living things. Unlike actual eaves, my HISASHI take an organic form because I wanted to suggest, through the incorporation of the type of spaces that living things inhabit, the whole in which both the man-made and the natural are subsumed.” The new piece “Shin bou” is consisting of three objects, transparent ball, red lava boulder and a sculpture of the trace of a hand which are connected together by an iron bar. Hands are one of the most important motifs that have repeatedly appeared in his works. Okazaki states “Hands are always lying between objects and me and they appear in front of all the things that exist in the world.” The iron bar penetrating the centre of all the objects quietly stands straight as if heaven, earth, and man, the three basic elements of the entire cosmos are connected together intervened by human’s hand.

 Zappettini was born in Genoa, Italy in 1939 and currently lives and works in Chiavari. Zappettini belongs to ‘Pittura Analitica（Analytical Painting）’ group, one of the most significant and influential artistic movements of the Italian Post-War period, which was closely related to other European abstract art movements as well as to the American Minimalists. The idea of ‘Pttura Analitica’ was emphasizing on the action of painting over the finished product. Many artists joined this group and it became one of the most important art movement in Italy in 1970. By extending the possibilities of the medium, they aimed to reach an alternative understanding of space and create a new language, which would allow them to investigate what it means to paint. In his recent works, Zappettini’s interest has transformed from a work process to a method of reflection and focusing on the symbolic meaning of particular colours and materials exists in the nature world. This exhibition features his recent work entitled “CON CENTRO n.52”, which was created by adding a number of layers of acrylic paint and gold. The overlapping circles painted as if the ripple mark representing water flow remind us the influence by the mind of Zen, which he had been attracted by since his youth and through his own private travel in Asia in the late 1970s.

 Pe Lang is a kinetic artist who was born in 1974 in Switzerland and currently lives and works in Switzerland. In a constant process of gaining and losing control, Lang‘s kinetic installation engages a refined and focused exploration of interaction between the kinetic, the visual and the sonic. Although the works are made by combining inorganic mechanical parts, they produce elegant and organic movements and sounds unexpected even by the artists. This exhibition shows some of his new works including “untitled” which was created by a collaboration with a sound artist Marianthi Papalexandri-Alexandri. The gentle sound that produced in accordance with the movements of the motor rotating are not digital sound. It is produced by the vibration of the frictions passing through the vibration plate of the speakers. The quiet sound is irregularly ringing as if Japanese Suikinkutsu, a water harp cave in which produces a pleasant splashing sound of water falling into a pot and echoing.

 To quote from the English Romantic poet, William Wordsworth, “Nature never did betray the heart that loved her.” The brook sings out clear and water reflection is sparkling. The sun goes down and the moonlight illuminates. The nature has been there from the distant past before the birth of human and people have been standing on the Earth from ancient times. Through the works by each artist and listening carefully the songs of the Earth ringing out here and there, it would be great if you enjoy the conversation with nature as well.

Gianfranco Zappettini《CENTRO n.52》2018
Resin, acrylic, fassadenputz on canva s| 60×60cm

Pe Lang & Marianthi Papalexandri-Alexandri《untitled|no 12》2019
motor, speakers, various mechanical parts | 6 + 2AP | H63×W63×D20cm

Special Thanks : SHIGERU YOKOTA GALLERY

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※Opening hours is shortened til 18:00.
Closed on Monday, Tuesday and National holidays

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