Contemporary Art Gallery

Darren Almond Second Thoughts

November 16 (Sat.),2013,to February 2 (Sun.),2014

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From November 16, 2013 to February 2, 2014, the Contemporary Art Center, Art Tower Mito has invited London based artist Darren Almond for a large-scale solo exhibition.
The exhibition gathers diverse works (video installations, paintings, photographs and three-dimensional objects) made since 1999 and invites visitors to take part in a meditation on time and personal and historical memory.

Almond is interested in the mutual relationship between the scientific concept of time and its psychological perception. In his works he applies different media in an attempt to represent various scales of time and connect the viewer’s perception of real time to the abyss of time.

Travel and discovery are also important for his artistic practice. Visiting ancient relics, post-industrialized cities and wild nature sites across the globe, Almond has recalled the history of human agency and its dignity in civilization.

Japan plays an important role for Almond’s creative work. Since the 1990s he has traveled around Japan and created works inspired by its nature and culture. The CAC is exhibiting three pieces which Almond created based on his experiences in Japan. ‘Sometimes Still’, 2010, is a six-screen-video installation showing Almonds recordings of the so called Sennichi Kaihyôgô. This Buddhist practice is a severe training taking place over a period of seven years around Mt. Hiei of Kyoto in order to reach enlightenment. ‘Civil Dawn@Mt. Hiei’ consists of a photo series shot at Mount Hiei, capturing the first sunlight of the day touching the earth. Another photo series, Day for Night, depicts the iconic flower of Japan, the cherry blossom. Along with a selection of recent works, the exhibition also presents his important large-scale video installation ‘All Things Pass’ (2012) and the sculptural wall installation ‘Tide’ (2008).
The exhibition Second Thoughts will provide the space for encountering different dimensions of time and space and expand the visitors' perceptions.

Curated by Mizuki Takahashi, the exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue in Japanese and English, to be published in January 2014 by AKA AKA Publishing Inc.

Please visit installation view.→Youtube

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＊Dear Visitors,
There are several very dark and narrow rooms inside the gallery in order to show multi-screen video installations with full of performance.
We are grateful for your understanding for the structure of exhibition before entrance and hope the show could navigate you to second thought in the darkness.