Motohiro Tomii“Accommodating Sculpture”

Duration: March 24th, 2019-June 23rd, 2019
Gallery Rooms: #301, #302 (Guests Only)
Public Exhibition: 15:00-22:00 from April 27th Sat) at Hotel Lobby
Event: A public talk by Motohiro Tomii in June (TBA)
Heads Bar (Live performance art on portrait sculpture, from 15:00, April 27th)

We are delighted to announce that RC HOTEL KYOTO YASAKA will have an art exhibition “Accommodating Sculpture” by the sculptor Motohiro Tomii.*Please note that a part of artworks will be displayed at gallery rooms and the hotel lobby first. Then all the artworks will be a public exhibition from April 27th (sat) except gallery rooms.

I decided to exhibit my artwork in RC HOTEL KYOTO YASAKA. I cannot produce and exhibit my artwork for particular guests because different guests will stay at the hotel every day. It is not absolutely impossible, but my artwork may rule for guests how to spend the room. I think that is not a very happy way for both guests and my artwork. So I stretch my mind with other perspectives, I came up with an idea that my artwork will accommodate the hotel*. However, my artwork cannot pay accommodation fee to stay there, so I placed artworks not disturbing way for guests who really stay with.
*I kept in my mind following points below:

1. About the hotel → Reinforced concrete structure → figures by molding in shapes by liquid
2. About views→ things may change from as it is, a slightly different space-time
3. About luggage →things holed and opened in rooms.
– Motohiro Tomii

To accommodate the hotel is the action that only human beings can do. By seeing the title of this art exhibition, you may see the artworks with coexisting humanity and substances. You can even see human motif among his artworks which is extremely rare. It seems unnatural however this development may be natural as a sculptor. We can say sculpting artworks by using major materials such as plaster shows us what a sculpture is by this historical background or image. Thus using plaster or other sculpting materials for sculpture are a requirement or rules that many artists had to maintain.
In Tomii’s previous artworks using ready-made goods, it was extremely ambitious to call it as sculpture because it seems far from our images on sculpture, yet his message or intention was very clear because he constructed with a detailed plan and clear images. On the other hands in his artworks this time, he clarifies a theme(human) which he had not themed so obvious before. Yet its ambitiousness on sensitivity or styles stands out as a result because he did not construct in detailed. This ambiguity may show us his desire and fascination for the art of sculpture.
Seeing Motohiro Tomii’s artworks at the hotel where is human scramble makes me think about what is sculpture.
– Planned by Takuya Kumagai, Art Director of RC HOTEL KYOTO YSAKA

Motohiro Tomii
1973 Born in Niigata, Japan.
1999 MA Fine Art (Sculpture), Musashino Art University (Excellent Graduates) / Tokyo, Japan
2015 Stayed NY as a member of Program of Overseas Study for Upcoming Artists (till 2016)

By adding to ready-made goods minimally, he releases a fixed meaning that ready-made goods used to have, and he discovers new perspectives of sculpture adding new color and shapes. He uploads” Today’s Sculpture” on his twitter as an art performance. He also examines breaking rules or criticizing exhibition space of sculpture’s tradition. He drawled attention from these activities.
His recent major exhibition is “zou wo musubu”(connecting to sculpture) （Yumiko Chiba Associates viewing room shinjuku／Tokyo, 2017）”Hikikomi-sen(lead-in lines)”（old the second Tokorozawa supply center of school meals／Saitama）”Composition-mono ga motsu ru-ru(Rules OBJECTS have)” （ATELIER MUJI／Tokyo 2018）, “Water and Land Niigata Art Festival 2018”（ YUI-PORT Niigata City Center for Creative Arts and International Youth Exchange／Niigata）” Beyond the future of Meld Sculpture ” （Maki Fine Arts／Tokyo, 2018）etc. He is now Associate Professor at Musashino Art University, and a mediator of “Kabegiwa(wall side)”