KISHIO SUGA

“Basically, the essence of the space stays the same everywhere. I think the ‘existing site,’ interpreted by spatiality and things, is determined by the things in the space.”

• Suga Kishio

The Mono-ha artists rejected standard conventions of art as a means of subjective expression, instead, choosing to present objects and materials as they are, to reveal unseen interconnected relationships as well as new modes of seeing through a defamiliarized reality. Through utilizing natural and industrial materials, such as stone, glass, metal plates, wood, paper, cotton, wire, rope, and water, and arranged them in mostly unaltered, impermanent “situations.” In many ways, Mono-ha was a response to traditional modes of representation, as the very idea of “creation” was seen at the time as invalidated by industrialization and technology. Instead, Mono-ha attempted to bring “things” together in unaltered states, allowing the materials to speak for themselves.

Suga’s approach to his materials is an ongoing investigation of “situation.” Through his intervention and juxtaposition, an “activation of existence” becomes prescient, revealing the interdependency of these various “mono,” the surrounding space, and the viewer. After the informal dissolution of Mono-ha, Suga continued to focus his practice on the intrinsic nature of “mono” through impermanent interventions. The grace and simplicity of these arrangements belie a deep philosophical and spiritual nature. From these situations, Suga recalibrates the way we see the world through things.

The exhibition features the large-scale installation work Interconnected Spaces-EM, anchored on the first floor. A large stone sits in the center of the exhibition, radiating lines of rope towards the surrounding walls.

“Through the arrangement, the boarders between the surrounding and the center of the work are now clear. The space and the whole situation are centralized by the restriction of the rock and the ropes. It is the geography and the extended spatiality (infinite).”

• Suga Kishio

Upstairs, multiple groupings of Suga’s wall-mounted geometric assemblages are presented. These reliefs are made of various materials, and demonstrate the spontaneous and intuitive character of Suga’s practice. Presented alongside the wall-hanging works are paper works, sculpture, and photographic works, which span over 40 years of the artist’s prolific practice. Though often compared to International Minimalism and Post-Minimalism, Suga’s work, in the context of Each Modern, invites viewers to realign his practice with that of other Chinese abstractionists, like that of Li Yuan-Chia’s own isolated practice.

Coordination: Tomio Koyama Gallery