NEMOTO TAKASHI

The ‘Ocean of Trees’ that forms the exhibition’s title is a major piece Nemoto has been working on for over half a year since May 2017, which at 333.3 x 788 centimetres is almost exactly the same size as Pablo Picasso’s Guernica. The site of its creation was BUCKLE KOBO, a corner of the Suda Ironworks on the island of Keihinjima in Tokyo’s Ota-ku. Amidst the reverberating echoes of hammering and sharpening of steel, this work was created as an ongoing development of Nemoto’s ‘Guernica Project’.

The work was first exhibited in conjunction with the ‘Iron Island Fes’ which took place on Keihinjima on 1st October this year, involving live performances and DJ sets by musician acquaintances of Nemoto including NANAO Tavito, PBC, ISHINO Takkyu and KISHINO Yuichi. Until that point Nemoto’s new work had been tentatively entitled ‘New Guernica’ － but on the same day he announced it would take the title ‘Ocean of Trees’.

Nemoto Takashi’s ‘Ocean of Trees’: whether gazed at from a distance, or its details observed at close range － or in fact, by moving little by little from far away to close up to the work - we may enjoy its gradual transformations... When we lose ourselves in the ocean of trees before our eyes, we seem to see the tracks of a ‘karmic railroad’ (the unofficial translation of one of Nemoto’s major works) running through it.

In response to the oft-asked question ‘Is there no more chance to see ‘Ocean of Trees’?’ came the impetus for holding this exhibition at Mizuma Art Gallery. Together with the work itself, a filmed record of the production of the work over the course of half a year, as well as various documents pertaining to its creation, will also be exhibited.