Asana Fujikawa / David Hockney. Figures of the Floating Worlds
12/10/2019–12/01/2020
Asana Fujikawa’s (*1981) works are intense explorations of the human condition. How do we deal with change and threats? How do we deal with our own mistakes? How do we react to experiences? The starting point for her works is always a short story conceived by the artist. The protagonists of her narratives find themselves in entirely everyday situations in which they make decisions with far-reaching, surreal consequences. However, Asana Fujikawa does not write texts; instead, she tells her stories through sequences of prints that follow in the tradition of Japanese picture scrolls and ukiyo-e (pictures of the floating world). She then animates individual protagonists from these pictorial narratives. As ceramic figures, their presence expands into the space.
Three major cycles of works by the Japanese artist come together with David Hockney’s 1969 series of paintings, ‘Six Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm’, in the large sculpture studio at the Georg Kolbe Museum. Asana Fujikawa and David Hockney share an interest in a simple narrative structure and a magical influence that subjects everyday life to a process of transformation, though this does not always lead to a happy ending. The particular appeal lies in the fact that both Asana Fujikawa and David Hockney make use of traditional genres and formats. Through their artistic interpretation, symbols emerge that feel contemporary and immediate. The longing for money, power and success, and our relationship with nature – these and other experiences are visually explored.
The exhibition was curated by Dr Matilda Felix. It was subsequently shown at Haus Oppenheim in Wrocław.