Micro-Events: Tsuneko Taniuchi
[Date] July 18 (Friday), – September 21 (Sunday), 2014
Tsuneko Taniuchi is an artist who lives and works in Paris. Taniuchi performed and exhibited her works in France and abroad, including Centre Georges Pompidou and Palais de Tokyo in Paris.
Taniuchi, who has actively performed in “Micro-Events” since 1995, has sought to represent in her performances diverse social classes and their roles in society. She has, for example, performed various types of modern women, and elsewhere used irony to depict the VIP system of the art fair in the character of a bunny girl who serves drinks only to those who consider themselves to be VIP.
Also, she may raise a false alarm in the supermarket shouting, “I got my purse stolen!” Or, in another kind of performance she “moves into” an art gallery with her packed belongings, and exposes the right to housing in urban areas. Taniuchi continues her vigorous performance with a critical spirit, immersing herself in her surrounding environs.
The art work of Taniuchi, who is “Japanese” and also “French,” questions the audience what is a “validness of being yourself” in modern society as one moves across borders of concept and value, in terms of theatre and action, reality and fiction, communication and disconnection, man and woman, engagement (political and social participation) and game, and art and kitsch.
During the exhibition period, Taniuchi will appear on stage and perform everyday. The “Wedding Series,” which proved to be a great success when performed at Centre Georges Pompidou, includes an installation of documentary images and videos as well as her performance. This exhibition shows the various aspects of the artist’s activities
■Performed Everyday Mon-Sat 17:00-19:00 / Sun 14:00-16:00
“Micro-Event n°45 /Six Female Characters + A Women / Seven days”
The artist herself stays at the gallery and performs everyday. She performs one of six different women from modern society (waitress, boxer, gymnast, homeless, Ganguro and Ninja). On Sunday, the seventh day of the performance, “a woman” = Tsuneko Taniuchi hosts the “Troc,” a participatory performance in which the audiences can exchange their own personal belongings for “objects” which the six women create while performing.
■August 3 (Sunday)
“Micro-Event n°46 /Weddings in Tokyo”
This is the Tokyo version of the “Wedding Series,” in which nearly 250 marriages have been performed since 2002. As part of the performance, Taniuchi recruits the men and women (potentially multiple) who will be married to her in 20 wedding ceremonies hosted in the gallery; the wedding attendants are recruited as well.
Details on the event and on the application for the wedding will be posted on our website www.hermes.com from the beginning of July.
[ Tsuneko Taniuchi ]
Born in Nishinomiya city, Hyogo, Japan. Lives and works in Paris since 1987.
Taniuchi graduated from Kobe College, Sociology Department, where she majored in the History of Western Culture, and then went to the École des Beaux-Arts to study abroad. After living for a short time in New York, Taniuchi relocated to Paris where she has continued her creative projects, which include performance, video, photography and installations. Since 1995 Taniuchi has explored a new area of performance called “Micro-Events, ” participating in Rendez-vous du forum (Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2010), La Force de l’Art 02 (Grand Palais, Paris, 2009), and Tokyorama (Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2001).