靉嘔：虹的激浪狂熱分子
Ay-O: A Rainbow Frenzy


⋄ 展期 Duration | April 20 — June 9, 2024
⋄ 開幕座談 Opening Talk | April 20, 2024 15:00 西川美穂子 (東京都現代美術館策展人) × 本阿彌清 (藝評家) 於市長官邸藝文沙龍 (台北市中正區徐州路46號)
⋄ 展覽地點 Venue | Hiro Hiro Art Space (台北市中正區紹興南街10號)


Hiro Hiro Art Space很榮幸呈現日本當代藝術家靉嘔Ay-O個展，Ay-O本名飯島孝雄，1931年出生於日本茨城，1950年代後期移居紐約，與小野洋子、白南準、喬治．麥素納斯，同為國際前衛藝術組織激浪派（Fluxus）的核心成員。

在紐約蓬勃的戰後藝術氛圍下，Ay-O開始探索如何將感官與藝術結合，著名的觸覺體驗作品「手指盒」（Finger Boxes）系列於是誕生。1960年代起，Ay-O的創作發展出個人標誌性的彩虹語彙，Ay-O使用「彩虹」為觀念，藉由視覺可快速接收資訊的特質，以涵蓋所有可見光譜的顏色去覆蓋作品，讓色彩牽引觸動更多感官，這種視覺刺激的膨脹、光色與虹波，可視為他創作的表面張力，由虹彩導向「能量」的體驗。

他的作品《亞當與夏娃》（環境繪畫），於1971年亮相於聖保羅雙年展，並將在Hiro Hiro Art Space展出。透過彩虹色描繪亞當和夏娃這兩個人類存在的典型象徵，Ay-O重視可見顏色的客觀存在和視覺的主觀本質，強調個體有責任從感知中辨別不同意義。此外，這件作品不同以往平面繪畫的傳統表現方式。它不僅具有相當份量的立體彩虹色木畫框，通常用於遮蓋亞當和夏娃裸體的葉片，也做成立體物件組裝而成，顯現Ay-O俏皮和幽默的個性。而Ay-O另一件展出作品《彩虹北齋，1970》，亦反映出在日本對裸露文化規範下，藝術家的創意解決方法。《彩虹北齋，1970》由五十四個單獨印刷的方格組成，當分散時，它們看起來像一張張抽象圖形；然而組裝後，方格融合成一幅彩虹浮世繪春畫。

Ay-O曾代表日本參與威尼斯雙年展及聖保羅雙年展，創作媒介包含繪畫、裝置、版畫和行為藝術。1987年，他與巴黎市政府合作《艾菲爾鐵塔300米彩虹計畫》（300 meter Rainbow Eiffel Tower Project），從鐵塔頂端垂掛一條長達300米的彩虹布旗，此創舉成為他眾多藝術活動中的一大亮點。有「彩虹藝術家」封號的Ay-O，從年輕時即致力於推廣版畫運動，希望藝術像彩虹各色所集成的光芒，平等照耀且存在於所有階層民眾的生活裡。

Ay-O的作品在國際上廣泛地被收藏，包括紐約現代藝術博物館、龐畢度中心、大英博物館、惠特尼美術館、芝加哥藝術博物館、美國史密森尼國立亞洲藝術博物館、沃克藝術中心、東京都現代美術館等。

值得一提的是，在日治時期Ay-O曾經隨海軍父親來台居住，對台灣留下美好的童年回憶。Hiro Hiro Art Space本次除展出靉嘔Ay-O精彩原作、絲網版畫及裝置作品，也同時推出限量周邊商品，讓觀眾可無負擔地將一小塊Ay-O彩虹帶回家。


──


Ay-O: A Rainbow Frenzy


⋄ Duration | April 20 — June 9, 2024
⋄ Opening Talk | April 20, 2024 15:00 Mihoko NISHIKAWA (Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo) × Kiyoshi HONNAMI (Art Critic) at Mayor's Residence Art Salon (No. 46, Xuzhou Rd., Taipei City)
⋄ Exhibition Venue | Hiro Hiro Art Space (No. 10, Shaoxing S. St., Taipei City)


Hiro Hiro Art Space is honored to present a solo exhibition, Ay-O: A Rainbow Frenzy, by the renowned contemporary Japanese artist Ay-O. Ay-O was born Takao Iijima in 1931 in Ibaraki, Japan, and later moved to New York City in the late 1950s, where he became a core member of the international avant-garde art movement Fluxus alongside George Maciunas, Yoko ONO, and Nam June PAIK.

Amidst the vibrant post-war artistic atmosphere in New York, Ay-O began exploring the fusion of senses and art, leading to the creation of his famous tactile experience series "Finger Boxes", one can sense sounds or different textures by putting a finger inside. From the 1960s onwards, Ay-O developed his distinctive art expression characterized by rainbows. Leveraging the vision’s characteristic of rapid information absorption, Ay-O employs the concept of "rainbow" to cover his works with colors spanning the entire visible spectrum. This approach allows viewers to engage more senses through the visual stimulus, leading to an experience of "energy" guided by the rainbow.

His work, "Adam and Eve (Environmental Painting), 1967", debuted at the São Paulo Art Biennial and is on view at Hiro Hiro Art Space. By depicting Adam and Eve, archetypal symbols of human existence, using rainbow colors, Ay-O accentuates both the objective presence of visible colors and the subjective nature of vision. This underscores the individual's responsibility to discern meaning from their personal perception. In addition, this artwork transcends the conventional expression of two-dimensional painting. Not only does it feature sizable three-dimensional rainbow-colored wooden frames, but it also incorporates sculptural fig leaves traditionally used to cover the nudity of Adam and Eve, reflecting the playful and humorous character of Ay-O. In contrast to the historical context surrounding the depiction of Adam and Eve with modest coverings, Ay-O's another on-view work, "Rainbow Hokusai, 1970" also mirrors Japanese cultural norms towards nudity and showcases Ay-O's inventive solutions. Comprised of fifty-four individually printed squares, when scattered, they appear as abstract graphics; yet when assembled, they merged into a rainbow version of traditional Japanese shunga.

Ay-O has represented Japan at the Venice Biennale and São Paulo Art Biennial, working across different forms of artistic expression, including painting, installations(environmental art), printmaking, and performance art. In 1987, he collaborated with the City of Paris on the "300 meter Rainbow Eiffel Tower Project", suspending a 300-meter-long rainbow-colored ribbon from the top of the Eiffel Tower, marking a significant highlight in his extensive artistic career. Known as the "Rainbow Artist", Ay-O has long been dedicated to promoting the printmaking movement, transforming art into the radiant spectrum of colors, equally illuminating and existing in the lives of people from all walks of life.

Ay-O's works have garnered international acclaim and have been widely collected internationally by institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Centre Pompidou, the British Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art, the Walker Art Center, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, among others.

It is worth noting that long before Ay-O's solo exhibition in Taiwan this time, he had connections with Taiwan. During his elementary school years, he had resided in Taiwan twice with his naval aviator father, leaving behind fond childhood memories. In addition to showcasing Ay-O's captivating original works, silkscreen prints, and installations, Hiro Hiro Art Space is also launching limited edition merchandise, allowing visitors to bring home a piece of Ay-O's rainbow, fostering a deeper connection with his artistic vision.

REFERENCE

Hiro Hiro Art Space Website
Hiro Hiro Art Space Facebook
Hiro Hiro Art Space Instagram
開幕座談活動