www.hirosaki-moca.jp

May 13, 2022
Press Release

Hirosaki Museum of Contemporary Art 2022 Exhibition [Spring / Summer]

Ryoji Ikeda | solo exhibition
Date: April 16 (SAT) – August 28 (SUN), 2022
Venue: Hirosaki Museum of Contemporary Art
Overview of New and Recent Works, Including Installation in the Brick Warehouse’s
Spacious Atrium
Ikeda’s First Major Japanese Solo Exhibition in 13 Years resonate with the Museum
Architecturedata-verse 3, 2020

Photo: Takeshi Asano©Ryoji Ikeda

The Hirosaki Museum of Contemporary Art (Hirosaki, Aomori) presents a solo exhibition of works by theinternationally acclaimed artist and composer Ryoji Ikeda, based in Paris and Kyoto, from Saturday, April 16
through Sunday, August 28, 2022. Ikeda (b. 1966) has created numerous immersive works that dynamicallycombine technology, light, and sound to electrify the viewer’s senses. This will be Ikeda’s first major exhibition
at a Japanese museum since 2009, and will showcase his recent activities including new works.
Since 2000 Ikeda has pursued the theme of data, with a particular interest in scientific fields such as genetics,
quantum physics, and astronomy, which he has incorporated into works that present new ways of perceiving
the world in numerical terms. For example, in data-verse 3 (2020), shown for the first time in Japan, datafrom NASA and many other scientific organizations is collected, processed, and converted into highresolution images projected in the gallery. Experienced both visually and aurally, the works envelop viewers
in a world composed of vast amounts of data that usually go unseen and unnoticed.
In addition to a projection in the spacious, 15-meter-high atrium, video and sound works in each gallery
connect to one another, and the works resonate and sympathetically vibrate with the unique architectural
space of the renovated Brick Warehouse. This exhibition promises to expand the possibilities of the space,originally built as a brewery around 100 years ago and converted into an art museum, and offers theopportunity to experience a diverse range of works that provoke the imagination.
Press Contact Information
Hirosaki Museum of Contemporary Art PR Office｜Ms. OSAWA Mina and Ms. ISHIKAWA Kouko
2-1 Yoshino-cho, Hirosaki, Aomori, Japan 036−8188

Tel: +81-172-32-8950

E-mail: press@hirosaki-moca.jp1

www.hirosaki-moca.jp

Exhibition Highlights

1.

Large-Scale Audio-visual installation in the 15-meterhigh Atrium

data-verse is a three-part video and audio work,
presented for the first time at the 58th Venice Biennale in2019, incorporating vast quantities of open-source datafrom organizations such as CERN (the European
Organization for Nuclear Research) and NASA (the USNational Aeronautics and Space Administration). The
series, created with data ranging from the inside of theatomic nucleus to the furthest reaches of the cosmos,
takes the viewer on an epic journey that oscillates
between micro and macro perspectives. Here data-verse
3, which was also featured at Art Basel 2021, will bepresented in Japan for the first time. Representing theculmination of Ikeda’s recent work, it will be projected in
the atrium space which is the museum’s mostdistinguishing architectural feature.

data.flux [nº1], 2020
Photo: Takeshi Asano©Ryoji Ikeda

2. Visual and Auditory Experience of Works that
Resonate with Museum Architecture

The works of Ikeda, whose activities began withelectronic music composition, construct a space as if
creating music in response to the venue’s character. Theworks will be deployed so as to highlight to maximum
effect the architectural characteristics of the museum,such as its steel structure and black coal-tar walls, which
retain the atmosphere of the late 19th and early 20th century
when it was constructed and used as a warehouse. In
addition to positioning artworks so as to engage indialogues with the space, the superimposition ofaudiovisual elements will bring about resonance between
the architectural space and the artworks as a whole.
Viewers will enjoy a site-specific experience of the works
only possible through an in-person visit to the museum.

point of no return, 2018
Photo: Takeshi Asano©Ryoji Ikeda

data.tecture [nº1], 2018
Photo: Takeshi Asano©Ryoji Ikeda

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3. New and Recent Works, Those Exhibited in Japanfor the First Time
Ikeda’s first solo show in Japan in 13 years (2009) features
new and recent works incorporating a wide range ofprocesses, including the laser piece exp and floor-projectedpiece. This is a rare opportunity to view the recent activities
of international artist Ikeda through a diverse body of workthat expands the viewer’s senses. Closer proximity to theartist and his creations is offered through an archive andlistening area where visitors can listen to samples of Ikeda’s
past musical pieces and browse records of his activities.

exp #1-4, 2020-2022
Photo: Takeshi Asano©Ryoji Ikeda

Works in the exhibition[1st Floor]
1

point of no return (2018)2

data.flux [nº1] (2020)3

data-verse 3 (2020)

4

exp #1, exp #2, exp #3, exp #4 (2020-2022)

5

grid system [nº2-a], grid system [nº2-b],
grid system [nº2-c], grid system [nº2-d] (2022)

6

data.tecture [nº1] (2018)

Left: data.scape [DNA], 2019
Right: data.scan [nº1b-9b], 2011/2022
Photo: Takeshi Asano©Ryoji Ikeda[2nd Floor]
7data.scape [DNA] (2019)8

data.scan [nº1b], data.scan [nº2b]data.scan [nº3b], data.scan [nº4b]data.scan [nº5b], data.scan [nº6b]data.scan [nº7b], data.scan [nº8b]data.scan [nº9b] (2011/2022)3www.hirosaki-moca.jp

Biography
Ryoji Ikeda
Born in 1966 in Gifu, Ikeda currently lives and works in Paris and Kyoto. While rooted in electronic music, theinternationally active composer and artist also produces art as experimentation. Ikeda’s immersive live
performances and installations employ an elaborate orchestration of sound, visuals, matter, physicalphenomena, and mathematical concepts. He performs and exhibits worldwide at spaces such as Museum ofContemporary Art Tokyo, Singapore Art Museum, Ars Electronica Center Linz, Elektra Festival Montreal, Grecand Sonar Festivals Barcelona, Aichi Triennale Nagoya, Palazzo Grassi Venice, Park Avenue Armory NewYork, The Whitechapel Gallery London, The Barbican Centre and Somerset House London, Museo de ArteBogota, Hamburger Bahnhof Berlin, DHC/Art Montreal, Festival d’Automne à Paris, Sharjah Biennale,Carriageworks Sydney, Auckland Triennale, MONA Museum Hobart – Tasmania, Ruhrtriennale, Telefonica
Foundation Madrid and Kyoto Experiment Festival, ACT Centre Gwangju (Korea), Singapore Art Science
Museum, Kunstverein Hannover, RuhrTriennale, Festival d’Automne and Pompidou Center, Barbican, The
Vinyl Factory, and ZKM Centre for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, among others. In 2018, Ikeda launched an online
source under the name, codex | edition. He has received the Prix Ars Electronica Collide@CERN in 2014, andthe 70th Japanese Minister of Education Award for Fine Arts (Media Arts Division) in 2020.

Exhibition Booklet
A Japanese-English bilingual guide to the exhibition that includes commentaries on the works and photographsof the exhibition. In addition to an essay by Mika Yoshitake, the book contains an interview with the artist
conducted by Barbara London. The book can be reserved at the shop adjacent to the museum or the online
store. A message will be posted on the museum website when the online store is ready to accept orders.
Date of publication: July 2022
Specifications: A5 size (single gatefold cover), 64 pages, full color
Price: 800 yen (tax included)[Profiles]
Writer: Mika YOSHITAKE
Independent Curator. Former Curator at Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C. (20112018).

Interviewer: Barbara LONDON
Curator and writer. Former curator at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York (1973-2013), and theauthor of Video/Art: The First Fifty Years (Phaidon, 2020).

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General Infomation｜Exhibition Title:

Ryoji Ikeda | solo exhibition｜Date:Sat., April 16 – Sun., August 28, 2022

｜Opening Hours:

9:00-17:00 (Last admission 30 minutes before closing)｜Closed:Tuesdays (except on April 26, May 3 and August 2, 2022)｜Admission (tax included):

Adults 1,300 yen (1,200 yen)
University Students 1,000 yen (900 yen)*() Price for a group over 20 people*Free of charge for high school students and under;international students staying in Hirosaki; Hirosaki citizens over 65;
and visitors with disabilities and one attendant｜Organizer:

Hirosaki Museum of Contemporary Art｜Venue:Hirosaki Museum of Contemrapory Art2-1 Yoshino-cho, Hirosaki City, Aomori, Japan 036−8188｜With Special support from:Starts Corporation Inc.

｜Sponsored by:

OBAYASHI CORPORATION, NTT FACILITIES, INC.

｜In cooperation with:180 Studios, TARO NASU

｜Supported by:

The To-o Nippo Press, THE DAILY TOHOKU SHIMBUN,THE MUTSU SHIMPO Press, Aomori Broadcasting Corporation,
Aomori Television Broadcasting Co., Ltd., Asahi Broadcasting Aomori Co.,
Ltd., Aomori Fm Broadcasting, FM APPLE WAVE,and the Hirosaki City Board of Education｜Tel:+81-172-32-8950｜Access:

From JR Hirosaki Station-Take the Konan Bus to the Horai-Bashi stop (app. 9 min.)and walk 5 minutes
20 minutes on foottaxi 7 minutes｜Website

http://www.hirosaki-moca.jp｜SNS:

Instagram: @hirosaki_moca｜Twitter: @hirosaki_moca
Facebook: @hirosaki.moca

About the Museum
Hirosaki Museum of Contemporary Art opened on 2020, After renovating
the Yoshino-cho Brick Warehouse, a piece of modern industrial heritageand iconic landmark of Hirosaki City constructed in the late 19th and early
20th century. Its buildings were renovated by architect Tane Tsuyoshi.
The goal is to connect the region and the world through contemporary art,offering opportunities to engage with diverse and abundant visions andideas, and serving as a dynamic cultural hub that stimulates new creativity
connected to the past, present and future.

©Naoya Hatakeyama

Press Contact Information
Hirosaki Museum of Contemporary Art PR Office｜Ms. OSAWA Mina and Ms. ISHIKAWA Kouko
2-1 Yoshino-cho, Hirosaki, Aomori, Japan 036−8188

Tel: +81-172-32-8950

E-mail: press@hirosaki-moca.jp

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