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Maho-chan-chi (Maho-chan's Lovely Home)
Oct. 23, 2004 (Sat) to Jan. 10, 2005 (Mon, national holiday)


An exhibition presented by the father-mother-daughter trio of artists, Shinzo Shimao (b. 1948, novelist and photographer), Tokuko Ushioda (b. 1940, photographer), and Maho Shimao (b. 1978, cartoonist).

Shinzo Shimao - the son of the famous novelist, Toshio Shimao (1917-86), who was renowned for such works as "The Sting of Death," a collection of short stories - brings his delicate perspective to events closely related to his own life. His works include "Maho-chan," a series of photographs of his daughter when she was little, and "Searching for a Lost Time," snapshots and essays from a trip to his native Amami Islands, situated between Okinawa and Kyushu.

Meanwhile, Tokuko Ushioda concentrates on taking pictures of various objects to evoke people's daily lives. For example, her "ICE BOX" series portrays refrigerators actually in use at various households, and other series feature photographs of such things as old books and creative hats.

Their daughter, Maho Shimao, set off a quiet boom seven years ago with her popular comic book, "Goriko, High School Girl," and has now turned her attention to formative art works as well as visual ones.

Also exhibited at Art Tower Mito this time are miscellaneous household items the Shimaos picked up while in China, as they often go there on vacation, along with photographs they took there. The exhibition is based on their co-authored book, "Guide to Common Chinese Living."




Photo: Shinzo shimao


Exhibition Details

Name: Maho-chan-chi (Maho-chan's Lovely Home)
Dates: Oct. 23, 2004 (Sat) to Jan. 10, 2005 (Mon, national holiday)
Venue: Contemporary Art Gallery, Art Tower Mito
Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (no entry after 5:30 p.m.)
Closed: Mondays (except for Jan. 10), and during the year-end holiday period (Dec. 29 to Jan. 3).
Entrance fees: ¥800 (General), ¥600 (advance-purchase tickets, groups of 20 or more)
Free admission: Junior high school students and younger, senior citizens aged 65 or older, and disabled persons with proper certification
Yearly pass: ¥2,500 (Adult Pass for people 20 years and older), ¥1,000 (H.T.P.)
Purchase locations: ATM Ticket Counter
Organizer: Mito Arts Foundation
Grant from: Japan Arts Fund
Sponsor: Asahi Breweries., Ltd.
Cooperation: ShashinKosha, Fuji Film Imagetec Co., Ltd., Soum Corporation
Planning: ATM (Art Tower Mito) Contemporary Art Center



Works on Display

Shinzo Shimao

"Maho-chan" (b/w photographs)
Photographs imbued with Shinzo Shimao's overflowing love for his daughter, Maho, when she was a child. The young daughter, playing her part as a model well, responds to her father with her sparkling eyes directed straight at his camera. Although these pictures were taken in the early 1980s, they exude a nostalgic atmosphere reminiscent of the "good ol' days."

"Monsoon" (b/w photographs)
Pictures taken of scenery and people's plain lifestyles in the monsoon-prone regions of southern China, Taiwan, and Singapore.

"Tokyo-Amami: Searching for a Lost Time" (color photographs and text)
A photographic and textual essay describing Shinzo Shimao's journey back to the Amami Islands, where he spent his childhood. Taking the slow train toward Amami one station at a time, he overlaps the scenery of the present with the memories of his parents.
-- "Guide to Common Chinese Living" (photographs and miscellaneous Chinese goods) (in collaboration with Ushioda)
A look into the life of the common Chinese person through the perspectives of eating, relaxing, and playing. The photographs are shown along with a display of various goods that Shimao and Ushioda collected in China, demonstrating the everyday life of the people.

"Maho-chan" "Monsoon" "Tokyo-Amami:
Searching for a Lost Time"


"Maho-chan" "Monsoon" "Tokyo-Amami:
Searching for a Lost Time"




Tokuko Ushioda

"ICE BOX" (b/w photographs)
The inside of one's refrigerator is probably the last thing one would want to show to a stranger. Still, Ushioda's pictures of different families' refrigerators give us an interesting glimpse into their various lifestyles.

"HATS" (color photographs)
A collection of photographs of beautiful hats created by the hat designer, Mariko Kayama. Closer to being "sculptures of cloth" than mere hats, Kayama's creations put forth a mysterious expression as art objects.

"Biblioteca - Scenery of Books" (b/w photographs)
Not merely repositories of knowledge, books are attractive in their own right as objects. This series presents photographs of books as "scenery."

"ICE BOX" "HATS" "Biblioteca"




"ICE BOX" "HATS" "Biblioteca"





Maho Shimao

"Maho-chan's Room" (Details to be announced later.)








Profiles of the Artists

Shinzo Shimao
1948 Born in Kobe as the oldest son of Toshio and Miho Shimao, and raised in the Amami Islands, his mother's native region.
1974 Graduates in photography from Tokyo Zokei University.
1975 Begins work as a freelance photographer.
1978 Marries Tokuko Ushioda.


Tokuko Ushioda
1940 Born in Tokyo.
1963 Graduates in photography from Kuwasawa Design School (KDS).
1966-78 Lecturer at KDS and Tokyo Zokei University. ca.
1975 Begins work as a freelance photographer.
1978 Marries Shinzo Shimao.


Maho Shimao
1978 Born in Tokyo.
1997 Debuts as a cartoonist with her "Goriko, High School Girl" comic book, wildly popular among fellow high school girls. Active as a cartoonist and illustrator since then.
2002 Graduates with a major in art from Tama Art University.


Major Exhibitions

Shinzo Shimao
1995 Solo exhibition, "Lifestyles, 1990-1995" (Tokyo Municipal Photography Museum)
1998 "Contemporary Chinese Museums" Tokyo Municipal Photography Museum
2004 "Attempt at Pure Scenery" (Contemporary Photo Gallery, Tokyo)


Tokuko Ushioda
1994 Solo exhibition, "Hats" (Gallery MOLE, Tokyo)
1998 Solo exhibition, "Icebox" (Mitsubishi Estate Artium, Fukuoka)
2003 5th International Library Exhibition, "Biblioteca: Scenery of Books" (Tokyo International Forum)


Maho Shimao
1998 "Maho Shimao Exhibition" (Harajuku Rocket Gallery, Tokyo)
2004 "Hito-shima-oda-shi-maho Exhibition - two-person exhibition by Maho Shimao and Hitoshi Odashima" (Transpop Gallery, Kyoto; le Cafe in Shizuoka; appel in Kyodo, Tokyo; etc.)


Major Works

Shinzo Shimao
1995 "Monsoon" and "Lifestyle" (both from Misuzu Shobo)
1996 "Reader on Chinese Tea" (Heibonsha)
1997 "Family of the Moon" (Shobunsha)
1998 "The Island with Stars Living on It" (Iwanami Shoten)
1999 "Hikari's Drawer" (Seidosha)
2001 "Maho-chan: Photography Collection by Shinzo Shimao" (Osiris)
2004 "Scenery of Memories -- Tokyo-Amami: Searching for a Lost Time" (Kawade Shinbo Shinsha)
"Chinese Illusions: Photography Collection by Shinzo Shimao" (Green Arrow)


Tokuko Ushioda
1996 "ICE BOX: Photography Collection by Tokuko Ushioda" (Mimura Printing)
2004 "HATS: Photography Collection by Tokuko Ushioda" (Parol-sha)


Shinzo Shimao and Tokuko Ushioda (collaborations)
1994 "Collage-like Chinese Universe" (Sanko-sha)
1997 "Cute Toys from China" (Heibonsha)
1999 "Loitering in Macau" (Taishukan Shoten)
2001 "Guide to Common Chinese People's Lifestyle" (Koubundou)
2004 "Made in China" (Parol-sha)


Maho Shimao
1997 "Goriko, High School Girl" (Fuso-sha)
2000 "Tavilion" (Bruce Interactions)
2003 "Bonyari Komachi" (Sony Magazines)


Related Event: "CAFE in Mito 2004" Photography Contest

Winning photographs from the "CAFE in Mito 2004" contest will be displayed at ATM from Oct. 23.
Judges: Kotaro Iizawa (photography critic), Shinzo Shimao (novelist and photographer), Tokuko Ushioda (photographer), and Maho Shimao (cartoonist).


CRITERIUM

CRITERIUM 60 Satoru Aoyama
Dates: Oct. 23, 2004 (Sat) to Nov. 23, 2004 (Tue, national holiday)
Venue: Room 9, Art Tower Mito Contemporary Art Gallery
Admission: Included in entrance fee for "Maho-chan-chi" exhibition

CRITERIUM 61 Atsushi Saga
Dates: Nov. 30, 2004 (Tue) to Jan. 10, 2004 (Mon, national holiday)
Venue: Room 9, Art Tower Mito Contemporary Art Gallery
Admission: Included in entrance fee for "Maho-chan-chi" exhibition
"Criterium" is the Latin for criterion, a standard or benchmark against which things are measured. The series aims to introduce the new works of mainly young artists.


ATM Contemporary Art Gallery's
Pass for Adults
© Hiroko Ichihara
A pass has been designed for adults aged 20 and older, letting the holder make an unlimited number of visits to the Contemporary Art Gallery's exhibitions for one year from the date of purchase.
The price is ¥2,500 The artwork on the pass has been designed by Hiroko Ichihara, an artist who incorporates words in her works. The logo on the pass reads: "Contemporary art -- as easy as pie." The pass is on sale at the ticket counter in Art Tower Mito.


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Translated by Paul T. Narum
(official names of exhibitions and artworks are furnished by the artists and planners themselves)

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