Since its emergence in the late 1960s, video artistry has been gaining an increasingly prominent position in the visual arts sphere, forming a key element in many independent and large-scale exhibitions worldwide. Setting itself apart from conventional filmmaking, its unique way of conveying a particular vision or message has been adopted by many artists, including those who do not necessarily begin their career with motion image.

So, what is the attraction of video art from the artists’ perspective? Is it easier to create in its infinite variety and in the current times which heavily rely on digital alternatives? Perhaps it provides a greater medium for expression?

In conjunction with the Japan Foundation’s online exhibition, 11 Stories on Distanced Relationships – Contemporary Art from Japan, we have invited three of the exhibited artists,  who are either based in or closely connected to the UK, and who began their careers with other media of expression but later adopted moving image.

The three artists are NOGUCHI Rika whose main medium is photography but who recently started incorporating video art, YANAI Shino who produces performances and installations mostly in video, and SAWA Hiraki who studied sculpture but is known for his videos which capture his subject’s full psychological territory. Together they will talk us through their individual relationships with video art and what inspired them to select this medium in their conceptualisations, while introducing some of their representative works. The conversation will be led by Stuart Tulloch, curator and Head of Programme at Firstsite.

About the speakers

Stuart Tulloch is Head of Programme at Firstsite, Colchester (www.firstsite.uk). Previously Curator at Ikon Gallery, Birmingham (2012 – 2014) and Curator Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool (2003 – 2012). Between 1999 – 2003, Stuart was an Assistant Exhibition Organiser at Hayward Gallery, London.  At Hayward he was part of the team that organised the major exhibition of contemporary Japanese art entitled Facts of Life, in 2001. He has since led solo exhibition presentations and projects by Shimabuku (Ikon, 2013) and Makoto Nomura (Grundy, 2004). He is currently leading a mayor project of new work by celebrated artist Michael Landy for Firstsite opening June 2021 - Welcome to Essex.

NOGUCHI Rika, born in 1971, lives and works in Okinawa Prefecture. NOGUCHI has been using the media of the photograph as a means to visualize “What is there, but invisible.” Recently she has also been working on video art focusing on subjects such as insects and plants. Major recent solo exhibitions include At the Bottom of the Sea (Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo, 2017) and To the Night Planet (Loock Gallery, Berlin, 2016). Group exhibitions include Twinkling Skin, Emission of Light by Life and Death (Ashikaga Museum of Art, Tochigi, 2020), and 21st Sydney Biennale SUPERPOSITION: Art of Equilibrium and Engagement (Sydney, Australia, 2018).

YANAI Shino lives and works in London. YANAI has produced performances and installations mostly in video and sound that explore through fieldwork the brutality inherent in beauty and socially or historically disguised violence. Recently, she has been interested in pathways and relics. Major recent solo exhibitions include The Deep End (Sagacho Archives, Tokyo, 2019) and Blue Passages (White Conduit Projects, London, 2016). Group exhibitions include 'de-sport: The Deconstruction and Reconstruction of Sports through Art (21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, 2020) and What We See (The National Museum of Art, Osaka, 2013).

SAWA Hiraki is based in London and the Ishikawa Prefecture. SAWA creates videos that capture his subject’s full psychological territory, including mental landscapes and memories. In recent years, he has worked on installations that combine an axis of video with three- and two-dimensional works. Major exhibitions include Overlapping Circles: 5 Artists Collaborate with the Collection (Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art, Chiba, 2020), KAAT Exhibition 2018: Hiraki Sawa (solo exhibition–Kanagawa Arts Theatre, Kanagawa, 2018), Under the Box, Beyond the Bounds (solo exhibition–Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, 2014) and the 17th Sydney Biennale (Sydney, Australia, 2010).

Please note that this will be an Online Event held on Zoom.

This online event is free to attend but places are limited and registration is essential.

For more information, please click here