In Hiraku Suzuki’s practice, drawing is expanded from a primitive method of expression into a contemporary technique of reflection and transformation. Associating the act of drawing with the process of excavation,’ he reveals memories and ‘unknowns’ that lie dormant within our daily life. He perceives paper surfaces as excavation sites, carefully inscribing the moment when the different dimensions of time and space are generated from a limited two-dimensional phase. His recent drawings, in which he repeatedly uses light reflective materials such as silver marker and spray paint, shift their visibility according to the viewers’ perspective, creating resonance with the immediate environment.
In this exhibition, Excavated Reverberations, Hiraku Suzuki presents his recent approaches to drawing through several series of works on paper, applying various different methods. He has a constant interest in the genesis of letters and symbols. This leads him to explore the concept of alternative universal languages, which he relates to familiar environments and materials in today’s world.
Hiraku Suzuki was born in 1978 in Miyagi, Japan, and currently lives and works in Berlin, Germany. He received an MA in Fine Arts from Tokyo University of the Arts in 2008. He has been awarded various grants such as from organisations including the Asian Cultural Council (2011-2012) and the Pola Art Foundation (2012-2013). Recent solo exhibitions have included those held at Wimbledon Space, London (2011); Galerie du Jour Agnes b., Paris (2010) and Tokyo Wonder Site Shibuya, Tokyo (2008). Group exhibitions include Son et Lumière, et sagesse profonde, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa (2013), One and Many, Location One, New York (2012); Roppongi Crossing, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2010) and Between Site & Space, ARTSPACE, Sydney (2009). His works are held in the collection of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa and Agnes b. Collection. He has produced the catalogue GENGA published by Kawade Shobo Shinsha/Agnes b., and Looking For Minerals published by BEAMS.
Image: circuit (detail), 2012, silver ink on paper © Hiraku Suzuki, photo: Monica Baptista
Private View: 6-8pm, 21 March 2013
Talk: 2 May 2013, 6pm-7pm
This talk will be given by Hiraku Suzuki, and Dr Simon Kaner, Director, Centre for Japanese Studies at the University of East Anglia and Head of the Centre for Archaeology and Heritage at the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures.
Free but booking is essential at www.dajf.org.uk/bookin |
