Contemporary Art Gallery

Mai Yamashita + Naoto Kobayashi: To Others, and Together With Others

Mai Yamashita + Naoto Kobayashi is an art unit active both in Japan and overseas whose practice centers on video works and installations. In the works of Yamashita + Kobayashi, who attempt to build relationships with nature while perceiving it in its unfathomable state as an uncontrollable and uncertain entity, we often tend to encounter situations in which the trivialities of the everyday take on value or are transformed into miraculous events. Such works have the power to subvert viewers’ perspectives and values in subtle yet dynamic ways, and at times even change the way they see the world. They can also be regarded as the culmination of the artists’ sincere interest in and concern for “others” that encompasses nature and animals, and ultimately, the world itself as a whole.
This exhibition presents a comprehensive overview of the diverse expressions and practices of Yamashita + Kobayashi, including their earliest works and works that have never been presented before in Japan, and in doing so, attempts to unravel the full scope of their artistic endeavors. Additionally, utilizing the characteristics of the site, a new project in the form of a participatory work featuring a series of large flower beds, will be set up in the outdoor plaza of Art Tower Mito over the course of the exhibition period. At a time when the precarious relationship between humans and nature has been visualized through disasters and the pandemic, and as global conflicts continue, the exhibition provides an opportunity to reconsider our relationships with “others,” renew people’s perception of the world as they see it, and to question the very nature of our individual existence.

photo: Ryohei Yanagihara

Mai Yamashita + Naoto Kobayashi

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An art unit consisting of Mai Yamashita (b. 1976, Chiba, Japan) and Naoto Kobayashi (b.1974, Chiba, Japan), which officially commenced its activities in 2001. The unit worked overseas until 2012 following the completion of their studies at Tokyo University of the Arts, and is currently based in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. They have held museum solo exhibitions at Kunstverein Göttingen (Germany, 2011), Oyama City Kurumaya Museum of Art (Tochigi, 2015), Kurobe City Art Museum (Toyama, 2021), and Chiba Prefectural Museum of Art (Chiba, 2023) among others, and have participated in numerous international biennales and triennales including Art Setouchi 2019.
http://www.yamashita-kobayashi.com

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