KURITA Koichi × SUDA Yoshihiro

OTA Tomoko

Abstract:
In 2020, the exhibition “KURITA Koichi × SUDA Yoshihiro -Contentment in the details- ” was held at the Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art. KURITA Koichi(1962~) and SUDA Yoshihiro(1969~), both natives of Fuefuki city in Yamanashi, are contemporary artists who are active not only in Japan but also internationally. Kurita exhibits the soil he had gathered by hand at each location he visits. Suda carves and colors Japanese white-bark magnolia to produce woodcarvings of plants, and displays them in various ways within the space, something which was also done in the exhibition as various installations. The subtitle of the exhibition “-Contentment in the details- ” signifies that the important things dwell in the small objects around us. It is the same attitude that the two artists share when approaching objects. In the exhibition, we also suggested that the vernacular of their hometown Yamanashi had a considerable amount of influence on the forming of this attitude. In the present day, focusing on what we are given from the community can lead to the question of what is important to us in our livelihoods. Kurita and Suda’s art provide us with profound suggestions on the subject.

Bio:
OTA Tomoko
Curator
Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art
2006 Completed master’s course at Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology and Faculty of Letters, The University of Tokyo
Selected exhibitions: IKEDA Tatsuo (2010), HAGIWARA Hideo (2013), Japanese Masters of the Night (2015), FUKAZAWA Yukio (2018), KURITA Koichi × SUDA Yoshihiro (2020)