Exhibitions

KEN NAKAHASHI is pleased to present Yuki Harada's solo exhibition Afterglow, from October 26th, Saturday to November 21st, Thursday, 2024.

In his third solo exhibition at the gallery in two and a half years, Harada will debut his first-ever series of two-dimensional works, Dreamscape. 

Yuki Harada employs technology and performance in his works to explore the insignificant elements of visual culture. The series draws inspiration from the genre of digital landscape art known as “dreamscape,” which emerged around the year 2020. Harada interprets these dreamscapes, which are characterized by a surreal sense of stillness, security, and sterility, as “landscapes that reflect contemporary global circumstances and the state of the planet.” Among the works in the Dreamscape series are Home Port (2024), which debuted as a video version in 2023, and Afterglow (2024), a new work created for this exhibition.

Home Port is a digital landscape representing Lahaina, a town on the island of Maui, Hawaii, after the devastating wildfire in August 2023. This work contains Harada’s ruminations of a distant future and past for Lahaina, which Harada began visiting in 2019 for researching the culture and history of Hawaii.

In the new work Afterglow, Harada portrays the mountains of his hometown, Iwakuni, in Yamaguchi Prefecture. It is modeled on Afterglow (1947), by nihonga painter Kaii Higashiyama. Afterglow was completed shortly after World War II, during Higashiyama’s period of deep grief following the loss of his family. It holds special significance for Harada to depict Iwakuni, where he is from, something that has been on his mind for a long time. This has been finally resolved. 

As global tensions continue to rise, Harada's Dreamscape series reflects the world as if holding a mirror to society. We invite you to experience how the artist confronts the world through these landscapes.

Yuki Harada

Artist. Born 1989 in Yamaguchi Prefecture, grew up in Hiroshima. In 2016 earned an MFA in Inter Media Art, Tokyo University of the Arts. 

Harada employs technology and performance in landscapes and self-portraits that express the essence of society and the individual, taking as his motifs insignificant examples of visual culture.

Major solo exhibitions include Open Studio Vol.4 Yuki Harada: Dreamscape (Nagano Prefectural Art Museum, 2024), Go stay go pakiki all da time! Eh... no give up 'til you pau! (Museum of Japanese Emigration to Hawaii, 2023), Aperto 14. HARADA Yuki: Waiting for (21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, 2021).

His main publications are Christian Lassen: A critical biography (Chuokoron-Shinsha, 2023) and Insignificant Arts (Kenele Books, 2023), Essays on works and reception of Lassen in Japan (Film Art, 2013, Revised Edition=2024). He was selected as a finalist for the TERRADA ART AWARD 2023 and received the Yukie Kamiya Award.

From November 30th, Saturday, his largest ever solo exhibition Yuki Harada: Home Port, will be open at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art.

【Outline】

Yuki Harada Afterglow

October 26 (Sat)—November 21 (Thu), 2024

Hours: Tue—Sat, 13:00-20:00

Closed: Sun, Mon

Reception: October 26 (Sat), 18:00-20:00, Artist will be present

Opening Dates and Times during ART WEEK TOKYO: November 5 (Tue)—10 (Sun) 10:00-20:00