Press Release

November 22, 2011

Jean-Michel Othoniel, My Way

January 7 (Saturday) – March 11 (Sunday), 2012
The first solo exhibition in Japan of the renowned French artist Jean-Michel Othoniel
A retrospective featuring his large-scale jewelry-like glass sculptural works, with approximately 60 pieces on view,
including examples from early in his career

Lacan’s Knot (Le Nœud de Lacan) 2009 (detail) mirrored glass, metal 150 x 135 x 50 cmⒸJean-Michel Othoniel/Adagp, Paris 2012 Collection François Odermatt Photo by Guillaume Ziccarelli

Courtesy of Galerie Perrotin, ParisThe Hara Museum of Contemporary Art is pleased to present the first solo exhibition in Japan of the French artist
Jean-Michel Othoniel. Reconstructed within the unique space of the Hara Museum, formerly a private residence, is the artist's
retrospective exhibition that was first launched at the Centre Pompidou in Paris where it proved to be one of the mostpopular shows in the history of the museum.
As one of France's most prominent contemporary artists, Jean-Michel Othoniel is known for his large-scale glass sculptures,such as the sculptural piece Le Kiosque des Noctambules (2000) which adorns the entrance of the Palais-Royal–Musée du Louvre
metro station in the center of Paris. He has also held exhibitions at major museums around the world. In Japan, the artist
installed a large outdoor sculpture entitled Kokoro (2009) at Hara Museum ARC, the Hara Museum's annex in Shibukawa,
Gunma prefecture. This permanent installation, a unique heart-shaped work made of red-colored glass globes, now provides awarm welcome to every visitor to the museum.
The present exhibition showcases works spanning 25 years of the artist's career. Numbering some 60 pieces, they range fromearly works made with sulfur and beeswax to his most recent large-scale sculptures made with colorful Murano glass fromItaly. The title of the exhibition is taken from the song made famous by Frank Sinatra, ―My Way,‖ which is symbolic of aunique vision unswayed by popular trends.
We invite you to experience life and death, freedom and suffering, beauty and sensuality through the work that comprises
Othoniel's world.
Exhibition Details
Title: Jean-Michel Othoniel, My Way
Dates: Saturday, January 7 – Sunday, March 11, 2012
Place: Hara Museum of Contemporary Art 4-7-25 Kitashinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 140-0001
Tel: +81 3-3445-0651 E-mail: info@haramuseum.or.jp

Museum website: http://www.haramuseum.or.jp Mobile site: http://mobile.haramuseum.or.jp
http://www.art-it.asia/u/HaraMuseum/ (blog)
Twitter http://twitter.com/haramuseum (in Japanese only/ Account name: ＠haramuseum)
Organized by: Hara Museum of Contemporary Art
Co-organized by: Centre Pompidou
Special cooperation provided by: Embassy of France in Japan, Atout France
Supported by: Institut Français
Sponsored by: Bonpoint Japon K.K., Saint-Just
Place: Hara Museum of Contemporary Art
Hours: 11:00 am–5:00 pm, Wednesdays until 8:00 pm (last entry 30 minutes before closing)
Closed: Mondays (open on January 9), January 10
Admission: General 1,000 yen; Students 700 yen (high school and university) or 500 yen (elementary and junior high); Free for Hara
Museum members, students through high school every Saturday during the school term; 100 yen discount per person for groups of 20 ormore.
Directions: 5 minutes by taxi or 15 minutes on foot from JR Shinagawa Station (Takanawa exit); or from the same station take the No.96 bus,
get off at the first stop (Gotenyama), and walk 3 minutes.
Related event: During the exhibition, Enchanted Reality, (Le Reel Merveilleux), a workshop for children, will be held in The Hall at the Hara
Museum of Contemporary Art (organized by Bonpoint Japon and Hara Museum of Contemporary Art; curated by La Boite).
* A guided tour will be given by a museum curator on Sundays and national holidays (30 minutes; from 2:30 pm).

The exhibition Jean-Michel Othoniel, My Way has been designed by the Centre Pompidou in close collaboration with Jean-MichelOthoniel, and was presented at the Centre Pompidou, Paris, from March 2 to May 23, 2011.

Overview
Jean-Michel Othoniel, My Way is the long-awaited solo exhibition of the artist. First launched at the Centre Pompidou in Paris inMarch 2011, the exhibition travels to three other cities—Seoul, New York and Tokyo. Ranging from early works made withsulphur and beeswax to his most recent large-scale sculptures made with glass, the exhibition assembles together some 60
pieces that provide an overview of a 25-year career distinguished by a unique vision unswayed by popular trends. Filled withOthoniel's innumerable beads, the space of the Hara Museum will truly be transformed into a labyrinth of gems. A large-scale
outdoor glass sculpture is scheduled to be displayed.
Kiosk for the Night walkers (Le Kiosque des Noctambules) 2000
Murano glass, steel, aluminium, ceramics 560 x 600 x 200 cmⒸJean-Michel Othoniel/Adagp, Paris 2012 ⒸRATP-DGC
Photo by Jean-François Mauboussin

Who Is Jean-Michel Othoniel?
A Paris-based artist, Othoniel has received widespread recognition for hissparkling, jewelry-like artworks made with glass globes crafted on the Venetianisland of Murano. Among these is the much-beloved sculptural piece
Le Kiosque des Noctambules that he created in 2000 for the entrance to thePalais-Royal–Musée du Louvre metro station in Paris, a work that glittersvividly under the daylight sun and mysteriously under the street lights at night,
conjuring up an entrance to another dimension.
Artist Profile
Jean-Michel Othoniel was born in 1964 in Saint-Etienne, France.
From the 1980s, he made art with materials of a mutable nature such as sulfur,
lead, and beeswax, and from 1993, he began using glass. Distinguished by thedecorative and sensual aspects of his art, he has had solo exhibitions at such venues as theFondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain (2003) and Centre Pompidou (2011) and has
participated in international exhibitions that include Documenta IX (1992), Kwangju
Biennale (2000) and 10th Istanbul Biennial (2007). In 1991, he participated in a groupexhibition at Hara Museum ARC called Too French. At that time, he stayed for three weeks
and created his artwork on-site. In 2006, his work was introduced at the Collection of theFoundation Cartier pour l'art contemporary exhibition at the Museum of ContemporaryArt
Tokyo. He currently lives in Paris. http://www.galerieperrotin.com/ www.othoniel.frⒸJean-Michel Othoniel/Adagp, Paris 2012 Photo by Sang Tae Kim Courtesy of PLATEAU, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul

Jean-Michel Othoniel and the Hara Museum
The Hara Museum's association with Othoniel has deepened over a span of 20 years, starting in 1991 when the young artist
resided in Japan for three weeks to create on-site a work of art for the exhibition Too French at Hara Museum ARC, our annex
museum in Shibukawa, Gunma prefecture. In 2009, he installed a large-scale outdoor sculpture entitled Kokoro in the garden of
ARC which now provides a warm welcome to every visitor to the museum. This work is distinguished by its shape, which looks
abstract from one perspective and like a large heart from another, and also as an outdoor sculptural work made of glass—afragile and ephemeral material.

Kokoro 2009 Murano glass, steel 300 x 280 x 135cmⒸJean-Michel Othoniel/Adagp, Paris 2012 Photo by Yuichi Shiraku
Permanent installation at Hara Museum ARC, Gunma

Featured Works:

The Soul Molded in the Bottom（L'Âme moulee au cul） 1989

sulfur, silver 8 x 20 x 20 cm
This piece is made with sulfur, a characteristic material in Othoniel's early work. At a time when
Othoniel was mainly interested in photographic expression, he discovered sulfur while
experimenting with photosensitive materials. In addition to the image of human waste that its
smell and color evoked, Othonial was drawn to sulfur's mutable nature and its associations withother words such as souffrir (to suffer) and souffreteux (sickly). He saw sulphur as an ideal material
by which to grapple with and express the various conflicts within him. Sulphur is corrosive tosilver, and thus the dome-shaped mound of sulphur alters the silver base over time.
ⒸJean-Michel Othoniel/Adagp, Paris 2012 Artist Collection Photo by Guillaume Ziccarelli

Drawings Series（Aquarelle） 1996-2000

watercolor on paper 26 x 36 cm each without frame (17 in total)
These detailed sketches depict a bed, a dome and other things which were later realized
in a large-scale glass sculpture. With color washes, the motifs are rendered in a lovable fashion
and are embodiments of Othoniel's dreams.
Aimer tes héros (M.É.T.R.O.) 1997ⒸJean-Michel Othoniel/Adagp, Paris 2012 Artist Collection Photo by Jean-Michel Othoniel

Untitled （Sans titre） 1997 flabbergasted Murano glass 30 x 12 x 12 cm

Othoniel started using glass from around 1993. While continuing an interest in mutable materials
such as sulphur and beeswax, he came to include glass as another material of the same category.
Mallable when heated and rigid in form when cooled. The flaccid shape of this work makes it look likea glass blower's failed attempt at a vase. The useless lump of glass looks like a human body part, the warm
red and orange colors adding emphasis as the glistening form droops in mid air.
ⒸJean-Michel Othoniel/Adagp, Paris 2012 Artist Collection Photo by Guillaume ZiccarelliBlack is Beautiful 2003 Murano glass 320 x 80 x 15 cm

This work comprises a double stranded necklace of black-colored glass beads. The beauty of glass
lies in its unmuddled transparency; Othoniel, however, purposely uses glass of opaque black to emphasize
the beauty of black as a color. The title draws a connection with the cultural movement launched by
African-Americans in the 1960s, the aim of which was to destroy preconceptions about Black skin color,hair and facial features as being inferior to those of Whites. In this work, one senses Othoniel's gaze as itseeks to discover the unique beauty in every object or person.
ⒸJean-Michel Othoniel/Adagp, Paris 2012 Collection Cathy Vedovi

Photo by André Morin

Courtesy of Galerie Perrotin, Paris

Lacan's Knot （Le Nœud de Lacan） 2009 mirrored glass, steel 150 x 135 x 50 cm

In recent years, Othoniel's forms have become more abstract and less overtly sensual than before.In Lacan'sKnot, he uses mirrored glass which adds a metallic sheen to the transparent quality of glass, producing animage that is quite futuristic. This form evokes the three Borromean rings that provided Jacque Lacan
inspiration for his theory of human subjectivity.
ⒸJean-Michel Othoniel/Adagp, Paris 2012
Collection François Odermatt Photo by Guillaume Ziccarelli

Courtesy of Galerie Perrotin, Paris[Images for Publication]
Please include the following credit along with the captions below.
Please do not trim or alter the images. Putting text over the images is also prohibited.

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[1] Lacan's Knot （Le Nœud de Lacan）(detail) 2009 mirrored glass, steel 150x135x50 ㎝ⒸJean-Michel Othoniel/Adagp, Paris 2012 Collection François Odermatt Photo by Guillaume Ziccarelli Courtesy of Galerie Perrotin, Paris[2] Lacan's Knot （Le Nœud de Lacan）2009 mirrored glass, steel 150x135x50 ㎝ⒸJean-Michel Othoniel/Adagp, Paris 2012 Collection François Odermatt Photo by Guillaume Ziccarelli Courtesy of Galerie Perrotin, Paris[3] Diary of Happiness 2008 Murano glass, wood 206 x 348 x 33 cmⒸJean-Michel Othoniel/Adagp, Paris 2012 Private Collection Photo by Mariano C. Peuser Courtesy of Galerie Perrotin, Paris[4] Tears (Lagrimas) 2002 glass, water, table 140 x 500 x 70 cmⒸJean-Michel Othoniel/Adagp, Paris 2012 Private Collection Photo by Guillaume Ziccarelli Courtesy of Galerie Perrotin, Paris[5] My Bed (Mon Lit) 2002 Murano glass, steel, aluminum, soft-furnishings, felt 290 x 240 x 190 cmⒸJean-Michel Othoniel/Adagp, Paris 2012 Collection François Odermatt Photo by Patrick Gries Courtesy of Galerie Perrotin, Paris[6] Self-Portrait in Priest's Robe (Autoportrait en robe de prêtre) 1986 black and white photograph 4.6 x 6.7 cm (framed 33 x 43 x 3 cm)ⒸJean-Michel Othoniel/Adagp, Paris 2012 Artist Collection Photo by Jean-Michel Othoniel

For publicity materials please contact the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art (Watanabe, Kajita) by telephone or email.
Tel: +81-3-3280-0679 Fax: +81-3-5791-7630 E-mail: press@haramuseum.or.jp
4-7-25 Kitashinagawa, Shinagawa-ku Tokyo 140-0001