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Past Exhibitions


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Chiho Aoshima

City Glow, 2005, Chiho Aoshima, Japanese, b. 1974, chromogenic print, 66 15/16 × 66 15/16 in., Courtesy Blum & Poe, Los Angeles/Galerie Perrotin, © 2005 Chiho Aoshima/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Chiho Aoshima: Rebirth of the World

May 2 – Oct 4 2015

Seattle Asian Art Museum

Tateuchi Galleries

Welcome to the fantastic world of Chiho Aoshima. This might just be our future.

Who’s to say that as technology advances, as natural disasters rise, as the organic world blends with the manmade, that smartphones will not become smart buildings? That skyscrapers will not stand up and walk among mountains? That ghosts and spirits don’t already float through our world?

Aoshima’s work has undeniably dark images but a positive attitude. There’s no evidence of fear in her art. Her murals, digital prints, and drawings don’t want to escape from society or from the future. Instead, she seems to embrace all possibilities, including a world where the skeletons and ghosts reside alongside the rest of us.

Her work may look like a surreal fantasy. But ask Aoshima, and she’ll tell you she’s showing us the reality that our beautifully chaotic world may be hurtling toward.

When asked about her inspiration, Aoshima answered, “The evolution of human civilization is great; humankind thinks nature precious, but it is difficult for humankind and nature to coexist. I represented these two souls that cannot understand each other through the images of buildings and mountains.”

This is the future—and she’s prepared to live in it.

Chiho Aoshima

Red Eyed Tribe, 2000, Chiho Aoshima, Japanese, b. 1974, digital inkjet print, 19 5/8 x 138 in., Seattle Art Museum, Gift of the ContemporaryArtProject, Seattle, 2002.6. © 2000 Chiho Aoshima/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.


HOW YOU KNOW HER​

Chiho Aoshima

City Glow (Detail), 2005, Chiho Aoshima, Japanese, b. 1974, chromogenic print, 66 15/16 × 66 15/16 in., Courtesy Blum & Poe, Los Angeles/Galerie Perrotin, © 2005 Chiho Aoshima/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Chiho Aoshima

It's Your Friendly UFO!, 2009, Chiho Aoshima, Japanese, b. 1974, color on Japanese rice paper, 27 9/16 × 24 in., © 2009 Chiho Aoshima/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Chiho Aoshima

Rock, 2010, Chiho Aoshima, Japanese, b. 1974, color on Japanese rice paper, 6 7/8 × 10 7/16 in., © 2010 Chiho Aoshima/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.


HOW SHE DOES IT​​​

Chiho Aoshima

To the Sea, Bearing Moi Moi, 2009, Chiho Aoshima, Japanese, b. 1974, color on Japanese rice paper, 12 5/8 × 8 1/16 in., ©2009 Chiho Aoshima/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.


How SHe Came to Art​

Chiho Aoshima

Rabbit Girl, 2009, Chiho Aoshima, Japanese, b. 1974, color on Japanese rice paper, 8 11/16 × 9 13/16 in., © 2009 Chiho Aoshima/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.


FUN FACTS​​​

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Red Eyed Tribe (Detail), 2000, Chiho Aoshima, Japanese, b. 1974, digital inkjet print, 19 5/8 x 138 in., Seattle Art Museum, Gift of the ContemporaryArtProject, Seattle, 2002.6. © 2000 Chiho Aoshima/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

My number one film now is The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Psychologically, I can relate to it very much

Aoshima, 2006 interview with Saatchi Art

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