Myth In Motion
September 21 to November 10, 2024
KOTARO NUKAGA Roppongi
KOTARO NUKAGA Roppongi is pleased to present ‘Myth in Motion’, a two-person exhibition featuring Kour Pour, a Los Angeles-based artist born in 1987 who has captured an international audience from a young age, and Rember Yahuarcani, an artist born in 1985 from the Uitoto Nation in South America, who has participated in the 60th Venice Biennale. This exhibition will run from September 21 to November 10, 2024.
Pour, whose background spans Britain, Iran, and the United States, was born to an Iranian father who owns a rug store and a British mother. The artist has an embodied understanding of his multifaceted identity, and has showcased works inspired by a wide array of visual traditions, such as Persian carpets, medieval Islamic manuscripts, Chinese paintings, and ukiyo-e—as seen in his renowned Carpet series. In this exhibition, he presents paintings from his Tiger series.
Originally inspired by a tiger tattoo belonging to a Korean-immigrant friend of Pour’s, with a complex cultural background, this series examines the transmission and exchange of visual culture within Chinese, Japanese, and Korean folklore. Pour’s tigers, portrayed twisting and sometimes stretching boldly across the canvas, with rich and varied expressions, are brought to life through the use of thick vinyl flooring instead of the wood, during the block printing process—as suggested by his uncle, who uses the material for work. In this way, the artist is able to achieve printing on a larger surface than traditional woodblock printing. The vibrant, flat, primary colors covering the surface give power and dynamism to the stripes that flow on and around the tiger like festival streamers—allowing Pour’s work to step out of the confines of Western visual language. Pour references the diverse symbolism of tigers across East Asia—including its representation as philosophical allegory, mythical protector, and symbol of socio-political satire in the Korean Peninsula—exploring the ways in which artists of East Asian countries have shared the image of the tiger, and how it has been given distinct meanings in each culture. His works powerfully articulate how images spread and transform beyond cultural borders. Pour, who captured international attention from a young age, was featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2015 and 2017.
Yahuarcani creates large-scale paintings inspired by the traditions and mythology of his own heritage, the Uitoto Nation, an indigenous group from southeast Columbia and northern Peru. Born into a family that has long earned a living through handicrafts such as weaving, sculpting, and painting, a tradition that has continued since his grandparents’ generation, Yahuarcani travels between the capital of Lima and Pevas, a town accessible only by boat and home to fewer than 20,000 people. Yahuarcani has been profoundly influenced by the mythological tales and ancestral legends passed down within his community during their daily lives, particularly those shared by his grandmother in their native language, and the visual storytelling created by his father, who is a painter.
The artist depicts vibrant animals, flora, spirits, people, and other creatures that inhabit the Amazon rainforest—portraying an invisible interconnection among these elements and reinterpreting them as sources of wisdom. The almost translucent-looking creatures and spirits, drawn with delicate lines, organically come alive against backgrounds capturing the serene world that expands in the depths of the dense Amazon, transporting viewers to an unfamiliar world. In Yahuarcani’s works, mythology is not just a static recounting of the past, but a lively and ever-present part of daily life, offering a framework that differs from notions of identity imposed by Western-centric standards. At the same time, the artist rejects the label of “indigenous art” in reference to his works, working with the context of contemporary art to boldly reclaim the respect and recognition that has long been denied to his ancestors. Yahuarcani was selected for the 60th Venice Biennale, and continues to capture audiences in the international art world.
Given the opportunity to host an exhibition featuring Pour and Yahuarcani, two spectacular artists with unique cultural backgrounds, KOTARO NUKAGA planned Myth in Motion with the hope that it would delve into the richness and complexity of cultural identity in today’s globalized era, transcending rigid definitions, and articulating the ever-evolving nature of culture.
The title Myth in Motion reflects the tigers of Pour’s paintings, seemingly on the verge of action, with their dynamically flowing stripes, and captures the new narratives that arise from the interplay between the four works depicting Korean, Chinese, and Japanese tigers. The title originates from Yahuarcani’s view that “myths are in constant motion.”
Western values often present mythology as grand, universal narratives of the past, meant to enlighten. In contrast, the mythology embodied by these two artists is not universal or static, but rather an ongoing reality that reflects facets of our contemporary society. Everything in modern society is being changed by globalization, leading to a creolized and dynamic world shaped by the intermingling of various relationships.
Édouard Glissant[i]（1928-2011）, a poet and philosopher born in what is now the French overseas department of Martinique, provided deep insights into cultural identity and history in the Caribbean region, offering valuable perspectives on how to understand our contemporary multicultural society. In his book Poetics of Relation, he examines the concept of creolization that arises from the mixing of cultures.
Creolization, one of the ways of forming a complex mix—and not merely a linguistic result—is only exemplified by its processes and certainly not by the “contents” on which these operate…. We are not prompted solely by the defining of our identities but by their relation to everything possible as well—the mutual mutations generated by this interplay of relations. Creolizations bring [people] into Relation… [ii]
Creolization does not simply refer to the blending of different cultures, but also involves the generation of a new domain that differs from the original cultural source, and the subsequent occurrence of deterritorialization. The most significant characteristic of creolization is the opening of an emergent realm, brought about by a new creativity that does not belong to either of the original elements before intermixture. Glissant referred to this new creativity that emerges as the Poetics of Relation.[iii] For Glissant, the term “poetics” does not merely signify poetry, but a worldview or way to perceive the world, deriving from the Greek word “poiesis,” meaning “creation.”
Through this exhibition, the works by these two artists with complex and rich cultural backgrounds will provide an opportunity to visually experience Glissant’s theories, and encourage a profound examination of the fluid and creative nature of cultural identity. Within the distinct cultural context of Japan, the mythology presented by these two artists will make contact with visitors to this exhibition, forge connections, and negotiate meanings. The cultural interactions that emerge will give rise to the unpredictably evolving ‘Myth in Motion’. We are thrilled to present this exhibition in Roppongi, one of the many cultural crossroads in Japan.
[i] Édouard Glissant was born in 1928 in Sainte-Marie, in what is now the French overseas department of Martinique.
He was a writer, poet, philosopher, and literary critic. Considered one of the most influential figures in examining Caribbean thought and culture, Glissant had profound insights into the cultural identity and history of the Caribbean region, which are reflected in his works. His major publications include Le Lézarde [The Ripening] (1958), Tout-monde [Whole-World] (1993), Poétique de la Relation [Poetics of Relation] (1997), and Traité du Tout-Monde [Treatise on the Whole-World] (2000). His writing explores themes such as language, identity, space, history, and the production of knowledge. The internationally esteemed contemporary curator Hans-Ulrich Obrist has recognized the significant influence of Glissant and considered him a mentor. Obrist is known for his passionate research into Glissant’s work, featuring interviews and archival exhibitions.
[ii] Édouard Glissant, Poetics of Relation, trans. Betsy Wing (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1997), 89.
[iii] Poetics of Relation
Glissant’s concept of the “Poetics of Relation” emphasizes the process by which different cultural elements mutually influence each other to create new meanings and forms. He argues that, “Each and every identity is extended through a relationship with the Other,” demonstrating how cross-cultural exchange and interaction leads to new forms of creativity.
ARTIST
DATE
September 21 to November 10, 2024 11:00 – 18:00（Tue – Sat） *Closed on Sun, Mon and Public Holidays *Opened on November 10
VENUE