galerie-priska-pasquer:

Exhibition: Mika Ninagawa

Viborg Kunsthal, Viborg, Denmark
Jan. 18 - May 4, 2014

Mika Ninagawa’s richly colored photos and movies often focus on magnifying details in extreme close-ups that provide an almost abstract image of reality. The particularly eye-catching aesthetics are kitsch in its exaggeration, but also poetic in its gentle and evocative images.

In a unique style, artist mixes a surreal universe with attractive visuals from the popular culture. For example by reference to older, Japanese geisha traditions and neoclassical films like “Kill Bill”. Both play with staging of sex, violence, weapons and beauty. In this manner, the works represent a special style that is particularly popular among Japan’s youth, but also within a wide international audience.

Mika Ninagawa (b. 1972) lives and works in Tokyo, Japan. She exhibited at Kunsthaus Graz, Austria; Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Grenoble, France; Mori Tower and Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo, Japan, amongst many other places.

[from the press release by Viborg Kunsthal]

IMAGE: Mika Ninagawa, “on air” (Chiaki Kuriyama), 2004
©Mika Ninagawa, courtesy Galerie Priska Pasquer, Cologne