Tsubaki Noboru: Living with the Elephant Sculpture @ Towada City Museum of Contemporary Art
Tsubaki Noboru's solo exhibition 'Living with the Elephant Sculpture' opens at Towada City Museum of Contemporary Art.Summary
The Towada City Museum of Contemporary Art is hosting a solo exhibition titled 'Living with the Elephant Sculpture' by Tsubaki Noboru, who explores issues in modern capitalist society such as environmental destruction and widening inequality through the form of giant living organisms. Tsubaki Noboru, born in Kyoto in 1953, has garnered attention both domestically and internationally since the early 1980s. The core of this exhibition is his latest work, 'the Elephant in the Room,' created specifically for this show, featuring the largest mammal on land, the elephant. The title references the English idiom for a situation where everyone is aware of a problem but avoids discussing it. The work consists of two giant balloon sculptures depicting the heads of an XL-sized male elephant with open eyes and an M-sized neutral elephant with closed eyes, symbolizing a parent and child. These pieces question our daily behaviors and ways of thinking that often involve ignoring obvious issues, prompting an exploration of 'freedom.' Tsubaki will spend about two weeks before the opening in the exhibition space, creating an experimental space that embodies his internal thoughts, where memories from his student days intersect with an homage to Vincent van Gogh's masterpiece 'The Night Café' (1888). During the exhibition period, the space will be open to reveal various maquettes, drawings, and memos that represent fragments of his evolving creative process. Additionally, a special display featuring drawings of the giant red robot ant sculpture 'Atta' installed in the museum's courtyard in 2008 will be held at stores in the Towada city center, tracing the origins and creative process of this work.
(Source：ART iT)