Emi Kusano's Large Solo Exhibition at Hypermuseum Hanno. Depicting "Possible Pasts" with Generative AI
Emi Kusano's large solo exhibition "End of Nostalgia" opens at Hypermuseum Hanno, depicting "possible pasts" with AI.Summary
Artist Emi Kusano's large solo exhibition "End of Nostalgia" will be held at Hypermuseum Hanno in Hanno City, Saitama Prefecture, from November 14, 2025, to January 31, 2027. The museum opened in March 2025 within the Nordic lifestyle facility Metsä Village and is directed by Shigeo Goto. The exhibition presents Kusano's works that use generative AI to explore themes of nostalgia, pop culture, and collective memory, featuring new installations, three-dimensional works, and prints, with the entire gallery space composed as a single installation. Born in Tokyo in 1990, Kusano has incorporated new technologies like AI into her practice and has exhibited at museums and art fairs including M+ in Hong Kong, Search Gallery in London, and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. A key theme is "possible pasts and memories," including eras before her birth. Using Japanese street culture such as Takenoko-zoku, gyaru, decora, and Gothic Lolita as clues, she generates, selects, and edits images with AI. Her signature series "Ornament Survival" uses an AI model trained on her own face and body to have her avatar perform various social roles and personas. Valuing "discomfort" and "unease" over faithful reproduction of the past, Kusano sees bringing her culture and experience into AI expression as "my humble resistance and play as an artist against a homogenizing world."
(Source：美術手帖)