Spring and Summer Season 2013; Start of the Exhibition by Koutaro Sekiguchi
Spring and Summer Season 2013 has begun. Until January 29 (Tue), works by Koutaro Sekiguchi, an artist who creates three-dimensional works with newspapers and packing tape, using various things including animals, people and buildings as a motif, are on exhibit at the store. The works shown are Queen, Hero (Large), and Hero (PET Bottle Boy).
Queen
This work shows a mother and her children on a bicycle with built-in child seats that let her shuttle them around. Many artistic works use a mysterious girl as a motif, but the genuine beauty of woman is embodied by a mother on a bicycle with child seats, who is raising her children and creating their everyday life! That is why, I created this work, with the intention of cheering on the young mothers of my generation.
Hero (Large)
I gathered motifs from everyday life, such as sandals and bicycles, to form the shape of a hero. The life that everyone was taking for granted was actually something glorious, beautiful, precious and ephemeral all the while, just like a hero. This work expresses that realization. I also drew inspiration from the fact that the theme song of Anpanman, the representative hero character in Japan, was aired frequently on radio after the earthquake and encouraged many people.
Hero (PET Bottle Boy)
The model of this work is the photo of a boy walking through the debris with PET bottles in his hands for collecting water, which was shown in the newspaper and other media after the earthquake. Despite his hardships, he goes to get water for his family. The earthquake made it possible for everyone to become a hero; it made it necessary for everyone to become a hero. In the special exhibition Heroes (at the Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum), this work was deliberately exhibited outdoors, where it risked being exposed to wind and rain, even though it is made of fragile materials such as newspaper and packing tape. In this way I also hoped to remind people of our own situation, as we have to live our lives despite the fear of radioactivity.
Koutarou Sekiguchi was born in 1983, in Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture. He graduated from the Department of Sculpture at Tama Art University. He created Shunkan Jiin (Temple of the Moment) with newspapers and packing tape as his graduation product. He presented the work Akarui Yoru Ni Shuppatsu Da (Let's Depart on a Bright Night) at the exhibition XXIst Century Man (21_21DESIGN SIGHT) directed by Issey Miyake in 2008. He was awarded the 15th Taro Okamoto Prize in February 2012 for his work Kansei Neji (Sensitivity Screw). He held the special exhibition Heroes (at the Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum) in October 2012.
