Rei Naito’s work consistently explores the question “Is our existence on the Earth a blessing in itself?” She views elements of nature, the humble objects and scenes of everyday life, and elusive and easily overlooked phenomena caused by changes in light, shadow, water, and air as “primordial scenes of life,” and by connecting these forms within the viewer, she invites us to delve into our own states of contemplation.
This exhibition was conceived in concert with a synonymous exhibition that is on view at the Tokyo National Museum until 23rd of September. The schedule of the museum exhibition partially overlaps with that of the Ginza Maison Hermès Le Forum exhibition, and the event as a whole is presented so as to form a great circle by integrating various elements and themes.
In contrast to the Tokyo National Museum, whose historic buildings house a vast collection of cultural properties from different eras, the Forum is located in the modern Ginza Maison Hermès building and does not have a permanent collection. Situated in the heart of the city, the space appears vacant at first glance, but is in fact brimming with natural light filtering through glass blocks and artificial light and colors from the urban environment, marking it as a space apart from the world of the past. Naito seeks “immersion in life” by letting the gaze reside temporarily in this space, as she directs our eyes toward life rendered even more ephemeral yet intense by the shifting light.
The two venues are linked through an array of paintings and sculptures. Notably, the series of paintings color beginning/breath, which the artist worked on continually in her studio from 2023 to 2024, is a moment-to-moment chronicle of the artist’s days leading up to the exhibition. It highlights the irreversibility of physical time, and forms a narrative axis connecting the two venues.
Although the two exhibitions do not fully overlap, a moment in space is formed from the intersection of fragmentary artworks, atmosphere, and gaze that arise out of the intimate encounters with prehistoric Jomon period earthenware and animal bones at the museum, vestiges of pretend play, and the memory of the route through the many galleries. A sense of transcendent harmony is manifested in the figures of people in the space and on the low “seat.”
Just as we cannot physically meet people who lived in past eras, we will never meet those who will live after we are gone, or even engage with the times we call “yesterday” or “tomorrow.” In this transitory state, when Naito’s invitation to “come and live, go and live” emerges on the viewer’s horizon, it may allow us to perceive in the surrounding scenery the awe and prayer directed at nature and human existence that has persisted from ancient times, as well as the creative energy and spiritual realms these have fostered. And all life, as it moves toward the future, may hope to be filled with the breath of mercy and grace.
at Ginza Maison Hermès, Tokyo
until January 13, 2025