YOUKI HIRAKAWA
AXIS

FOREWORD :

Youki Hirakawa’s ‘Axis' explores our multi-layered relationship with nature. His works move between destruction and renewal, reflecting on the tension between human intervention and the quiet persistence of the natural world.

EXHIBITION IMAGES :

A Tree
archival print, edition (10)
30 x 25 cm

Image of a site specific sculpture of two tree stumps made from the same tree. Installed in a wood next to the river "Oglio" in Malonno, Brescia, Italy

Torso (Climber)
2 screen video (4K)

The double-sided video totem ‘Torso’ presents the body of a climber shaped by rock, reversing the traditional creator–muse relationship in art

Coaled Sky
single channel video

Whilst living in Germany, Hirakawa visited an artificial lake and former coal mine, where he collected lumps of coal and petrified wood. When he unearthed the bituminous coal from the ground, it was still wet and the surface was shining like a thousand stars.

BIOGRAPHY :


Youki Hirakawa is a Japanese contemporary artist born in Nagoya, Japan in 1983. He currently lives and works in Toyota, Japan, following a long residency in Berlin, Germany. He was invited to show at the ‘48th International Film Festival Rotterdam’ and ‘65th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen’ in 2019 and has held solo exhibitions internationally, including Ando Gallery, Tokyo, Double Square Gallery, Taipei, Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Kunstkraftwerk, Leipzig, Minokamo City Museum, Japan. Hirakawa has also been invited to exhibit in international art festivals including Digital Art Festival Taipei 2017, International Contemporary Art Festival Kaunas in 2016, Sapporo International Art Festival 2014 and Aichi Triennale 2013. His inaugural solo exhibition ‘Secret Fire’ at Anima Mundi was held in 2016 and his follow up ‘A River Under Water’ in 2018. In 2017 he was finalist of Sovereign Asian Art Prize. Works are held in numerous public and private collections.