Exhibition Period: Friday, 21 April – Sunday, 2 July, 2017
Mon-Sat 11:00-20:00 (Last entry 19:30),
Sun 11:00-19:00 (Last entry 18:30)
Open daily
Free admission
Venue： Ginza Maison Hermès Le Forum
(8F, 5-4-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
TEL: 03-3569-3300)
Organized by： Fondation d’entreprise Hermès
Supported by: kurimanzutto
Under the auspices of: Embassy of Mexico in Japan
Abraham Cruzvillegas is an artist based in Mexico City. He is highly active internationally, holding solo exhibitions at the Tate Modern (UK) and the Walker Art Center (USA) and participating in international exhibitions such as documenta 13 (Germany), the 50th Venice Biennale, and the 9th Gwangju Biennale.
Cruzvillegas incorporates local materials from places he visits into his work, from stone, cardboard, buckets and plastic cases to waste materials, scrap, animal excrement and plants, into diverse works ranging from stand-alone objects to architectural installations.
With roots in the “self-building” movement in Ajusco, on the outskirts of Mexico City, where he spent his childhood, and the “aesthetic promiscuity” seen in sites such as densely packed markets, the artist describes his practice and the nature of his works as Autoconstrucción, he turned in several series. While using materials that relate to the history, politics, society, and economy of specific regions, he strips them of symbolism and reconstructs them as completely new sculpture using improvised manual work and various interventions.
The Water Trilogy is a series of solo exhibitions Cruzvillegas is holding in three places in 2017, and the exhibition in Tokyo is Part 2. Into what kind of locale will Tokyo be converted by Cruzvillegas, who does not make hierarchies, does not tell stories, and accepts chaotic and hybrid states as they are? Inspired by the 1960s Japanese architectural movement of Metabolism and the furniture of Isamu Noguchi, Cruzvillegas will create a new installation using autonomous structural systems such as Buckminster Fuller’s “tensegrity” and the Fibonacci Numbers. Meanwhile, blended into the abstracted sense of locality are elements of the rich Mexican climate and culture, such as the traditional music of the Huasteca region, Chinampa farming methods, and aquatic creatures such as the Mexican salamander. Autodefensión, Microtonal, Obrera, Campesina, Estudiantil, Metabolista, Descalza…from a wide variety of vantage points, explore the aquatic environment that gives us life.
Abraham Cruzvillegas
Born in Mexico City in 1968. Lives and works in Mexico City, Mexico.