ARTIST INTERVIEW

An exclusive interview with Vivian Sato, who is active across a range of fields, including drag queens, a "non-architect" who does not build buildings, film criticism, and town revitalization efforts across the country.
"Seeing the unseen"
Vivian Sato Solo Exhibition "Proof of Absence" <Saturday, June 8th, 2024 - Monday, June 17th, 2024>

これまでに描かれたオーラの似顔絵
これまでに描かれたオーラの似顔絵

She studied architecture, is a drag queen and film critic. She is also an activist and contemporary artist who revitalizes society. Vivienne Sato's exhibition "Proof of Absence," which does not leave the site in one place, is like a mystery where many elements are intertwined in multiple layers. What is the message conveyed there?

-- The way the decorated head dresses are displayed, seen from behind, gives off a grotesque impression.

A headdress is an alter ego, something that is more like me than I am. Showing the other side of it is like showing the other side of my skin. The trigger for this exhibition method was an exhibition at Laforet Harajuku about 20 years ago. I was asked to exhibit interesting headdresses, cute items, and surprising items, but for me, taking off my headdress was not an easy thing to do, as it would turn my world upside down.

I couldn't take off the headdress and display it as an objet d'art piece. When I thought about what I could express, I came up with Vivienne Sato's "Absence." The headdress is a pseudo-scalp, and looking at it from behind a transparent acrylic wall involves looking at the world upside down. It presents "absence/non-presence" and at the same time looking at things from behind.

-What does the theme of your work as an artist, "absence," represent?

It is an idea that lies far beyond existence. Something that is not in front of you but suggests an ideal. I presented a work in which images used in the Rorschach test, a type of psychological test, are displayed on an entire wall. Each piece is a small piece of paper folded in half, with ink dripped onto it to make the shape symmetrical, but no two pieces are the same. I arranged them repeatedly on a wall several meters wide. I thought that the ideal shape might exist beyond the gallery wall, at infinity.

-- The "aura portrait" you draw face-to-face also evokes such an identity that lies somewhere far away.

I draw a picture in about 20 minutes. There may be some lies in it, but as I express my feelings and private life that I have never shared with my family or close friends, I can see the person changing, and I draw the ever-changing colors. In this day and age, it is rare to meet someone for the first time and talk to them one-on-one for 20 to 30 minutes, so creating such a situation is itself a work of art.

I think that forming relationships, whether romantic or friendship, means hurting each other to some extent. Contact that goes beyond the skin and injures the mucous membranes, blood, and the underside of the body. Aura's portraits are painted with watercolors, and the wet texture of the paper and palette makes me think of damaged, rough skin and scars breaking out. And when the painting dries, it becomes a scab.

これまでに描かれたオーラの似顔絵
これまでに描かれたオーラの似顔絵

-- It's very interesting how you express the rawness of human relationships through the texture of your paintings. Why do you use a variety of techniques, including calligraphy, sculpture, and video, in addition to painting?

I am interested in crossing dimensions using various parameters. What will be born from the transformation through the parameter called myself? I hope that crossing dimensions will change the way we see things.

Even in film criticism, I don't speak on behalf of what the director or producer wants to say; rather, I extract things that even the creators themselves don't notice and draw supporting lines from a different angle.

In that sense, I sometimes exhibit reference images and drawings (rough sketches) that I used as references when creating my own works in my own exhibitions. I think interpreting works exhibited in museums and galleries is very similar to the process of solving a case in a suspense drama. There are often scenes in dramas where evidence left at the scene is shown in photographs, or a diagram of the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim is written on a whiteboard, and it's exactly like that image.
My work is conceptual, so I think it can only be understood if I explain it. My work is like the traces left at the scene of a crime.

- It's important to enjoy the colors and shapes of the work itself, but understanding Vivian's intentions definitely changes the way you see it.

I believe that art is only art when the work acts as a medium to bring out the creativity within each viewer. Making and showing something beautiful or interesting is exactly half of it. The other half is created by the viewers, the people who live there, and the people who have connections to the area. The same is true for urban culture and town revitalization.

A famous festival in Aomori is the Nebuta festival. There are various theories about its origin, but one aspect is that it is a festival to worship Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, who, as Shogun, traveled to the current Aomori castle to conquer the Emishi. The festival, which seems to be a source of comfort for the local people of Aomori, can also be seen as a festival to heroize the centralized invaders (seen from the Tohoku region).

There are things in architecture and culture that cannot be measured by tradition alone. It is important to know the roots and what exists in this way.

Vivian Sato's work stirs the imagination of the reality in front of us and the invisible thing - non-existence - that lurks behind it. The exhibition "proof of absence", which pursues the essence like solving a suspenseful mystery, will be held from June 8th (Sat) to June 17th (Mon).

ABOUT ARTIST

Vivienne Sato
Vivienne Sato
Vivienne Sato
Artist, writer, non-architect, drag queen. He analyzes across genres with his own unique perspective. In addition to creating works, he develops his own artistic critiques of film, video, theater, architecture, cities, etc., with a focus on "contemporaneity". He works as part of the model team at Arata Isozaki's atelier. He holds head dress production workshops all over Japan, and has provided works for displays at BARNEYS NEW YORK, VEUVE CLICQUOT, LANVIN, MILKFED, and others. He is also actively involved in regional revitalization activities as a town revitalization consultant, Onomichi Tourism Ambassador, and other activities nationwide. Affiliated talent with Sun Music. Visiting professor at Taisho University. Exhibitions 2017-2024 Group exhibition "Yashiki no Mori Art Exhibition + Yashiki no Mori Children's Painting Exhibition" at Ikeda Memorial Museum of Art, Niigata Prefecture 2021-2024 Solo exhibition "Vivienne Sato Exhibition" at ART&MUSICBAR Hoshio, Tokyo 2022 "ART THINKING WEEK 2022 - The Future of Pretending" at Shibuya QWS, Tokyo
To the artist page

ABOUT EXHIBITION

Exhibition

Vivienne Sato solo exhibition "proof of absence"

Venue

YUGEN Gallery
KD Minami Aoyama Building 4F, 3-1-31 Minamiaoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Dates

2024.6.8 (Sat) - 2024.6.17 (Mon)

Opening Hours

Weekdays: 13:00-19:00
Weekends and holidays: 13:00-20:00
*Ends at 17:00 on the final day only

Closed Days

None

Date of presence

June 8th (Sat), 9th (Sun), 10th (Mon), 11th (Tue), 12th (Wed), 15th (Sat), 16th (Sun), 17th (Mon) *No appointments on June 13th (Thu) and 14th (Fri)

*The dates when the artist is in the gallery may change, so please see the pinned post on the gallery’s Instagram for the latest information.

https://www.instagram.com/yugengallery.jp/

Admission Fee

free

Notes

*Please note that the dates and opening hours may change without notice depending on the situation.

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