Wundwekammer Vol.1-1/2【temporary】
2023.02.26 / WUNDWEKAMMER
At the Wunderkammer FUKUOKA, the first contemporary art museum in Fukuoka, the first photo exhibition "temporary" by artist Yuki Matsuo, who also serves as the curator of our museum, is being held.
Yuki Matsuo moved to the United States in 2001, and in an environment where she felt the language barrier, her sewing machine, which she had used for over 20 years and brought from Japan, became an important communication tool. Subsequently, centered in Brooklyn, New York, she began creating homemade fabric food objects using sewing machines and hand sewing, as well as self-publishing printed materials like food maps, with a focus on "food" and the local culture rooted in the area.
Last year, she returned to Japan and moved her base of activities to her hometown of Fukuoka in Kyushu.
Recently, her visit to the Fukuoka City Museum's "Eternal Saul Leiter Exhibition" inspired her to conceive this exhibition. As she describes, "It looked as if a vivid filter was applied," the everyday life Matsuo experienced in New York and the casual photos in her iPhone photo album were given a new perspective by Saul Leiter's works.
Matsuo's works are always created using familiar methods (such as crafts and self-publishing). She often humorously refers to this as "a continuation of playing house and pretend play" out of respect for professionals. However, it is precisely because they are created using such approachable methods that Matsuo's works possess a charm that makes you want to hold them in your hands and admire them forever. This time is no exception. All the works are photographed with what is likely the most accessible camera, the built-in camera of her iPhone, and each is trimmed and printed in a small size. Next to the photos, her handwritten notes indicate the title, the area where it was taken, and the year. The small photo works fit into petite frames, evoking the "snippets" that Saul Leiter used to tear small from his own developed photos and carry around with him, which he cherished.
The title of this exhibition, "temporary," is named in contrast to Saul Leiter's exhibition title "FOREVER." While Saul Leiter spent most of his life in New York, she was a temporary visitor.
Saul Leiter's works, which capture the moments of everyday life in New York with a unique framing, may appear to many viewers who have never experienced that place as anonymous and somewhat abstract paintings. In contrast, Matsuo's works show the symbolic aspects of New York with a familiar perspective, accompanied by captions resembling short essays, giving the feeling of peeking into a friend's travel diary. By viewing Matsuo's works, we are reminded that the seemingly distant world of New York is actually connected to our lives. The more we strongly recognize the everyday, the more we feel the transience that it will eventually pass, paradoxically thinking of eternity. The words of prayer seen throughout the captions may express this. Just as local New York food is given an eternal expiration date and always delivered to us, Matsuo seems to be trying to express "eternity" from a different perspective and in her own way, unlike Saul Leiter.
Yuki Matsuo's photo exhibition "temporary" will run from February 25 to mid-March. The Fukuoka City Museum's "Eternal Saul Leiter Exhibition" is until March 5. I strongly recommend viewing both exhibitions concurrently if possible.
Yuki Matsuo moved to the United States in 2001, and in an environment where she felt the language barrier, her sewing machine, which she had used for over 20 years and brought from Japan, became an important communication tool. Subsequently, centered in Brooklyn, New York, she began creating homemade fabric food objects using sewing machines and hand sewing, as well as self-publishing printed materials like food maps, with a focus on "food" and the local culture rooted in the area.
Last year, she returned to Japan and moved her base of activities to her hometown of Fukuoka in Kyushu.
Recently, her visit to the Fukuoka City Museum's "Eternal Saul Leiter Exhibition" inspired her to conceive this exhibition. As she describes, "It looked as if a vivid filter was applied," the everyday life Matsuo experienced in New York and the casual photos in her iPhone photo album were given a new perspective by Saul Leiter's works.
Matsuo's works are always created using familiar methods (such as crafts and self-publishing). She often humorously refers to this as "a continuation of playing house and pretend play" out of respect for professionals. However, it is precisely because they are created using such approachable methods that Matsuo's works possess a charm that makes you want to hold them in your hands and admire them forever. This time is no exception. All the works are photographed with what is likely the most accessible camera, the built-in camera of her iPhone, and each is trimmed and printed in a small size. Next to the photos, her handwritten notes indicate the title, the area where it was taken, and the year. The small photo works fit into petite frames, evoking the "snippets" that Saul Leiter used to tear small from his own developed photos and carry around with him, which he cherished.
The title of this exhibition, "temporary," is named in contrast to Saul Leiter's exhibition title "FOREVER." While Saul Leiter spent most of his life in New York, she was a temporary visitor.
Saul Leiter's works, which capture the moments of everyday life in New York with a unique framing, may appear to many viewers who have never experienced that place as anonymous and somewhat abstract paintings. In contrast, Matsuo's works show the symbolic aspects of New York with a familiar perspective, accompanied by captions resembling short essays, giving the feeling of peeking into a friend's travel diary. By viewing Matsuo's works, we are reminded that the seemingly distant world of New York is actually connected to our lives. The more we strongly recognize the everyday, the more we feel the transience that it will eventually pass, paradoxically thinking of eternity. The words of prayer seen throughout the captions may express this. Just as local New York food is given an eternal expiration date and always delivered to us, Matsuo seems to be trying to express "eternity" from a different perspective and in her own way, unlike Saul Leiter.
Yuki Matsuo's photo exhibition "temporary" will run from February 25 to mid-March. The Fukuoka City Museum's "Eternal Saul Leiter Exhibition" is until March 5. I strongly recommend viewing both exhibitions concurrently if possible.