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Tamura Satoru

TAMURA SATORU

Maebashi Machine MAKI 8 February–9 March 2025 Omotesando, Tokyo
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Press Release

MAKI Gallery is pleased to present Maebashi Machine, a solo exhibition by Japanese artist Tamura Satoru, at Maebashi Galleria Gallery 2. Known for low-tech kinetic sculptures infused with an ironic wit, Tamura will showcase examples from three separate bodies of work—the Machine series, in which roller chains arranged to resemble various numbers, letters, and symbols rotate endlessly; the Point of Contact series, where light bulbs flicker on and off, occasionally releasing bright sparks in the air; and the colorful Parachute series, created in collaboration with book artist Yasushi Cho.

Despite having no personal connection to the city of Maebashi, Tamura constructed the monumental Maebashi Machine specifically for this exhibition. The characters “前 (Mae)” and “橋 (Bashi)” are outlined with greased roller chains on two giant sheets of metal, each measuring 172 x 122 cm. These chains and bearings, and the motors used to drive them, are all industrial materials with distinct, real-life purposes. However, Maebashi Machine eschews any apparent usefulness, instead using the mechanical parts to forge a perpetually rotating “前橋 (Maebashi).”

Faced with this absurd contraption, one may wonder why the artist decided to make such a thing. Yet this strangely mesmerizing sight speaks to Tamura’s artistic raison d’etre, what he calls the “desire to break free from the meanings, frameworks, and functions that all materials and forms inherently carry.” By taking one of humanity’s most vital resources—electricity—to create “useless” objects, the artist subtly pokes fun at contemporary society’s obsession with productivity and efficiency. We welcome you to engage with Tamura’s whimsical works, driven by an irreverent creative vision and colored by touches of cynical humor.

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About the Artist

Born in 1972 in Tochigi, Japan, where he continues to live and work today, Tamura Satoru graduated from the University of Tsukuba School of Art and Design in 1995. Tamura’s practice makes frequent use of electricity, an essential element of modern civilization and a key part of its social infrastructure. At times, it endlessly rotates a sculpted crocodile; at others, it powers an instrument that quantifies beauty or illuminates a lamp with a deliberately engineered open light switch. Such ironic futility might make the viewer instinctively murmur “So what?,” but Tamura’s dynamic, large-scale devices possess a captivating energy akin to amusement park rides. The works embody what the artist describes as his “desire to break free from the meanings, frameworks, and functions that all materials and forms inherently carry.”

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About the Gallery

MAKI Gallery was first established in Tokyo in 2003, with the aim of promoting works by seminal avant-garde Japanese artists of the 1950s-60s. The gallery has since gradually shifted its focus to working with emerging contemporary artists. After opening a location in the bustling, high-end shopping district of Omotesando in 2014, MAKI Gallery opened an expansive, museum-caliber space in the growing gallery hub of Tennoz in 2020. Across these two outposts, MAKI Gallery presents a broad range of works by internationally active artists, including Mungo Thomson, Miya Ando, Susumu Kamijo, and Marius Bercea, while also introducing younger Japanese artists, such as Anne Kagioka Rigoulet, Keisuke Tada, and Takuro Tamura, to a global audience. The gallery has also participated in various international art fairs such as Frieze New York, The Armory Show, Asia NOW, and West Bund Art & Design.

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Address

Location: Maebashi Galleria Gallery 2 5-9-1 Chiyoda-machi, Maebashi-shi, Gunma 371-0022, Japan Hours: 11:00 – 19:00 Closed on Mondays, Tuesdays, and National Holidays

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Tokyo 4-11-11 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku
MAKI contemporary art gallery in Omotesando Tokyo Japan
MAKI
4-11-11 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan
+81 364 347 705
http://www.makigallery.com

Opening hours
Tuesday – Saturday
11.30am – 7pm
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