Keith Haring: Humanism
Saturday April 13, 2019-Monday January 13, 2020
#中村キースヘリング美術館 #NKHC #Humanism展 #nakamurakeithharingcollection
All Keith Haring Artwork © Keith Haring Foundation Courtesy of Nakamura Keith Haring Collection.
This exhibition explores Keith Haring’s principle belief, one that rejected the existence of art as solely exclusive to the rich, and celebrates love above racial, religious, and gender differences.
In the early 1980’s, Haring began to draw on empty advertising boards in the New York subway system, risking potential arrest for vandalism, all with his own motto and belief in mind—art is for everybody. Over the next five years, this project, entitled Subway Drawings, turned commuters into art viewers, making him the talk of the town.
In Kutztown, Pennsylvania, young Keith Haring grew up drawing with his father, and much like everyone else in town, went to church every Sunday. Leaving his small town life behind, Haring moved to New York City to pursue his dreams of becoming an artist. Shortly thereafter, he expanded his work extensively, from drawing with chalk to painting murals and having workshops all over the world; he even donated his works to children’s hospitals and public institutions. During the turbulent decade of the 80s, Haring was actively involved in socio-political causes—making posters for AIDS related activism, the anti-apartheid movement, exhibitions for emergency relief funds, and many other causes, sometimes even giving copies of his posters away for free. Haring used his art as a medium to demonstrate his own courage and devotion to his belief in humanity.
One of the works from our collection, Sweet Saturday Night, functions as the perfect example of Haring’s portrayal of, and belief in humanism. The work was created as both set design and backdrop for a dance performance of the same title at the Brooklyn Academy of Music during Black History Month, which celebrated 300 years of black street and social dance. This large-scale screen, over-six-meters wide, is composed of Haring’s iconic black lines drawn all over, evoking dance movements—as if emitting the heat of the New York club culture while radiating the joy of life.
I don’t think art is propaganda; it should be something that liberates the soul, provokes the imagination and encourages people to go further. It celebrates humanity instead of manipulating it.
––October 14, 1978 from Keith Haring Journals
Keith Haring: Humanism
April 13, 2019 – January 13, 2020
Hours
9am-5pm
Closed
April 9 – 12, May 22 – 24, 2019
Admission
Adult ¥1,500 / Students (16 and over with ID) ¥600 / People with disability ¥600 / Children (15 and under) Free
Group (20 or more) ¥1,000
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Supported by U.S. Embassy, Tokyo, Yamanashi Prefecture, Yamanashi Board of Education, Hokuto City, Hokuto City Board of Education
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Special Thanks: Keith Haring Foundation, CMIC HOLDINGS Co., Ltd.
Enrico Isamu Oyama Solo Exhibition ‘VIRAL’
May 18, 2019 – March 22, 2020
#大山エンリコイサム #VIRAL展 #enricoisamoyama
Enrico Isamu Ōyama, FFIGURATI #184, 2019 / Artwork © Enrico Isamu Oyama / Photo ©Suguru Ikeda
“While the term computer virus connotes a negative “infectious” implication, the term viral, as in social media, is tied to “rapid growth” or “spreading”, concepts akin to exercising or speed, and has a more positive connotation, implying gaining popularity. In this day and age, where cloud and mobile computing has become widespread and the concept of digital creativity has shifted from machine = hardware to include concepts of software such as services, applications, and platforms, which are reminiscent of the natural environment, the expression “viral” is also changing from a negative idea of something that invades the human body in order to cause harm to something positive, such as the ability to breed life and self-generating life power in a (artificial) natural environment… Taking the threat of “virus”, spread and growth, and replacing its virulence to the creation of life, and then rethinking it as “vital”, the affirmation of life”.
This exhibition is mainly composed of paintings that play a central role in Oyama’s “Quick Turn Structure” while also showcasing the rich variety of techniques Oyama employs, such as monochrome gradation and scale, composition, texture, and layering. The highlight will be a site-specific mural, a new piece created specifically for this exhibition, which will be displayed in the “Hallway of Freedom”, graffiti art over the collage of photographs that document Keith Haring’s time in Tokyo.
The artist states that “Quick Turn Structure” is a viral icon that can apply and acclimate itself to a variety of media. A strong identity that can maintain itself while also creating a dialogue with the changing environment and context. Oyama’s art, which lives its own life within the space of continuous production and the product, and the vitality of drawing which are consistent in Keith Haring’s work merge in this exhibition, transcending space and time.
Enrico Isamu Oyama (b.1983, Italian / Japanese) creates visual art in various mediums that features Quick Turn Structure; the motif composed of spontaneous repetition and expansion of free flowing lines influenced by aerosol writing of 1970’s-80’s New York and beyond. Originally from Tokyo and currently based in New York, Oyama has authored the book Against Literacy: On Graffiti Culture, edited the special issue on aerosol writing for Japanese art magazine Bijutsu Techo, and undertook collaboration with brands such as Comme des Garçons and shu uemura. http://www.enricoisamuoyama.
Enrico Isamu Oyama Solo Exhibition ‘Viral’
May 25, 2019 – November 17, 2019
Hours
9am-5pm
Admission
Adult ¥1,500 / Students (16 and over with ID) ¥600 / People with disability ¥600 / Children (15 and under) Free
Group (20 or more) ¥1,000
Special Thanks
Takuro Someya Contemporary Art, CMIC HOLDINGS Co., Ltd., shu uemura
NEWS
May 18, 2019 13:00-
“VIRAL” Opening Event
Gallery tour and live painting by Enrico Isamu Oyama
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May 25, 2019 14:00-
Gallery tour by Enrico Isamu Oyama
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November 3, 2019 14:00-