Exhibition Opening: Friday, 13 September 18:00 until 20:00

Kuroko is a group exhibition of artists based in the UK and Japan working in sculpture. The exhibition is supported and presented by Index Festival Leeds, the artist-led fringe festival during the inaugural Yorkshire Sculpture International 2019.

The artists in this exhibition met whilst studying and have continued to exchange dialogue and collaborate. They are: Jon Kipps (London, UK), Julia McKinlay (Leeds, UK), Hiroko Nakajima (Tokyo, Japan), Eiko Soga (Oxford, UK) and Lauren Wilson (London, UK).

Jon Kipps, Julia McKinlay and Lauren Wilson have all visited Japan for study and research, and Eiko Soga and Hiroko Nakajima are and were based in the UK for many years. The group are linked by this international exchange and a shared interest in materials, process and the power of objects to create a narrative.

The theme of Kuroko arose from group conversations about the unique challenges of working in sculpture. Dressed in black from head to toe, Kuroko is an invisible character in Kabuki theatre whose role is to support the performances of the actors, activate props and assist the storytelling on stage. This seemed a perfect comparison to strategies for making and displaying sculpture. The Kuroko’s actions make it possible for the meticulously choreographed performances in Kabuki to proceed and the story to unfold; an interesting parallel with the invisible/visible devices used within sculpture to activate objects.

This exhibition will consider such hidden roles of Kuroko in sculptures, as well as the role of the artists as Kurokos, and the performance of the sculptural objects in creating a narrative in space.