Press Release
November 2023

Opening November 18Shiori Horie, The Scab Comes Off√K Contemporary is proud to announce the opening of Shiori Horie’s highly anticipated solo exhibition, The ScabComes Off.

Since Horie’s 2021 solo Gotoh Memorial Cultural Award Exhibition: An Overseas Training Program Achievement
Showcase, A Breath Away, the artist has become a recipient of the prestigious VOCA Honorable Mention Award in
the very same year, and held her solo exhibition, "[Associated Exhibition] HORIE Shiori: Toward the Unreachable" atThe Museum of Modern Art Kamakura & Hayama KAMAKURA ANNEX as part of “MATSUMOTO Shunsuke: On the110th Anniversary of His Birth” in 2022.

On this ocassion, the long-awaited major solo exhibition will present 110 pieces of Horie’s watercolor works, which
debuted at the artist’s solo exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura Annex in 2022, as well as newworks from her VOCA Award-winning Partial Future series.

In recent years, the artist has faced an inaugural sense of trepidation towards Nihonga (Japanese painting, which
involves the use of mineral pigments). Nevertheless, despite her lingering distress, what kept her going was her
motivation to paint. Subsequently, the artist would return to drawing; a medium she started to explore during hertime studying in Paris. Rendered on small pieces of white paper, these works present mysterious, anthropomorphic
faces, which the artist calls “scabs”. From the soft layers of vivid, overlapping watercolors to the feeling ofmovement captured by her brushstrokes, the subtle yet intimate character of these works seems to allude to theartist’s inner conflict and her acceptance of it. Just as scabs are emblems of convalescence, these works appear asif they reveal a glimpse of the artist’s healing process as Horie begins her journey again by re-accepting art as afundamental part of herself.
Gifting form to the juncture between injury and recovery, these works embody one of the most universal
experiences of life.

Press Release
November 2023

The exhibition will further feature new works from Horie’s Partial Future series, which she produced following her
18-month hiatus from Nihonga, such as her 2022 VOCA Honorable Mention Award-winning work. Recognized for itsoverwhelming presence, the esteemed work is composed of a row of figures that pervade the entirety of thecomposition. Known for her mastery of the material, the artist’s unique technique and expertise offer her mineralpigment works a distinct texture that differs greatly from her drawings. Delicate and ephemeral, yet substantial anddense, these portraits signify strength in the face of a fragile existence. For this occasion, the exhibition will present
new works from her series, as well as the award-winning work, Partial Future #2 - #6 (2021).

Shiori Horie’s anthology, A Breath Away* which features the essay that inspired the title of the exhibition The ScabComes Off (2020, Gunzo, Kodansha) will be available for purchase at the exhibition.
*Please note that all essays are in Japanese only

Please take this opportunity to view the works of a leading artist who continues to persevere, grow and express
these developments throughout her pioneering oeuvre.

◼

Artist Statement“The Scab Comes Off”

For some reason, I just couldn’t paint anymore.
I began to fear the things I valued most and the people associated with them.

For me, painting entails the use of mineral pigments.
I want to return to the days when I would paint a color on a piece of paper,
and, as more colors came to mind, my hands would instinctually begin to move.
But, before I knew it, my paint bottles had begun to collect dust.

I feel like I’m drowning in my painful memories. Yet, I must pick up my brush.
As if they would wash away my ferment, I was encouraged by the lightness of these watercolors, and I would try toclose my wounds by preventing them from opening any further.
As I kept going, numerous little scabs remained on my hands.

I saw a light in the hand that was stretched before me.
Even if my wounds don’t heal, there must be something I can do.
For the first time in a year and a half,
I held these nostalgic paints in my handto return to the beginning and confront my fears by painting.

Shiori Horie

Press Release
November 2023◼

Exhibition Highlights

Above: Partial Future #2 - #6 (2021) Mineral pigments on washi paper 194 × 60 × 3.5 cm(Image: "MATSUMOTO Shunsuke: On the 110th Anniversary of His Birth [Associated Exhibition] HORIE Shiori: Toward the Unreachable" at The
Museum of Modern Art Kamakura & Hayama KAMAKURA ANNEX (2022) installation view)

Upper tier (from the left): The Scab #228 (2022) 18×12.5cm, The Scab #238 (2022) 17.9×12.5cm, The Scab #275 (2022) 18×12.4cm, The Scab #326(2022) 17.9×12.4cm
Lower tier (from the left):The Scab #329 (2023) 17.9×12.4cm, The Scab #447 (2023) 17.9×12.4cm, The Scab #547 (2023) 19.4×14.8cm, The Scab #675
(2023) 19.7×14.5cm＊All works: watercolor on paper

Press Release
November 2023◼

Artist｜Shiori Horie（堀江 栞）
Shiori Horie was born in France in 1992. Following graduation from Tokyo
Gakugei University Senior High School in 2010, Horie entered Tama Art
University specializing in Nihonga painting, and graduated in 2014. In thesame year, she held her inaugural solo exhibition at Kashima Arts andexhibited her works at ART FAIR TOKYO 2015 in a solo presentation by thegallery. In 2015, Horie was awarded the Gotoh Cultural Award, Fine Arts
Division, and was nominated for the 6th Kaii Higashiyama Memorial Awardfor the Nikkei Nihonga Grand Prize. With a grant from the Gotoh CulturalAward, Horie spent a year in Paris in 2016. In 2020, the artist received the6TH SETAGAYA ART AWARD “HISHOU” and in March 2021, held a solo
exhibition at the Setagaya Museum as a part of the 6th SETAGAYA ART
AWARD “HISHOU” Memorial Exhibitions. In the spring of the same year,

Horie held solo exhibitions at √K Contemporary and Kashima Arts as part of the 26th Gotoh Memorial Cultural Award
Exhibition: An Overseas Training Program Achievement Showcase. In 2021, Horie received the VOCA (Vision ofContemporary Art) 2022's VOCA Honorable Mention Award and the Takashimaya Culture Foundation's 32nd Takashimaya
Art Award. In 2022, the artist published her work anthology, "Shiori Horie A Breath Away" (Shogakukan), and held her solo
exhibition, "[Associated Exhibition] HORIE Shiori: Toward the Unreachable" at The Museum of Modern Art Kamakura &Hayama KAMAKURA ANNEX. The following year, Horie's works were presented at the Okawa Museum of Art for a special
display as part of the commemorative exhibition, "Fifty Drawings by Shunsuke Matsumoto". In addition to her manyexhibitions and awards, the artist's essays have been published in numerous magazines and her works have graced thecovers of esteemed books such as Yoko Hiramatsu's Chichi no Bisco (Shogakukan, 2021) and 5 volumes of the Japanesetranslation of Jules Verne, The Collected Voyages Extraordinaires (Inscript). The artist also produced the cover andillustrations for Yoko Tawada's The Emissary (Kodansha, 2014).
Website｜https://www.shiorihorie.com/◼

Exhibition Information

Exhibition Title｜Shiori Horie, The Scab Comes Off
Dates｜

November 18 (Saturday) to December 16 (Saturday), 2023

Venue｜√K Contemporary (6 Minamicho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo)

Organizer｜√K Contemporary

Support｜French Embassy／Institut français du Japon

Exhibition HP｜ https://root-k.jp/exhibitions_en/shiorihorie_thescabcomesoff/Press Release
November 2023◼

About √K Contemporary
With an ethos guided by its experience with traditional Japanese art, √K Contemporarypresents art from the early 20th century to the present. Driven by a desire to innovate,
the gallery organizes exhibitions and events that aim to provoke, stimulate, and inspire
new thinking. In conserving its acts, the gallery hopes to place and pave its way toward
the future art scene. Designed with these ideas in mind, the 300 sqm gallery wasenvisioned as a “gallery from outer space”, where works are presented with new values
and viewed with new eyes.

Official Website: https://root-k.jp/en
TW: @rk_contemporary | FB: @rootkcontemporary | IG: @rk_contemporary

For all Press & Media Related Inquiries
Contact: Naoko Watanabe, Aisei Tamura√K Contemporary (Managed by SEI-RIN Co.,Ltd.)
6 Minamicho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 162-0836
Email: pr@sei-rin.com｜Tel: (+81) (0)3-6280-8808 | Fax: (+81) (0)3-6280-8809