Written by ART Driven Tokyo
Offers a connection to Japanese beauty
The following text is from the home page of “About Ginza Tsutaya books.” Reprint permission has been obtained by Tsutaya books:https://store.tsite.jp/ginza/english/
GINZA TSUTAYA BOOKS, “The World’s Best Art Bookstore” is home to a book selection expressing the limitless charm and mystique of art like no other store to be found.
Housing standard books, big books and valuable vintage texts along with a stationary selection that offers a connection to Japanese beauty.
Dominated by six-meter-high bookcases with a turret motif paying homage to Japanese architecture, EVENT SPACE holds events allowing participants to experience art and culture firsthand.
With an in-store sales floor providing a direct link to the art world, it is always possible to feel what is “now” on the global art scene.
Holds events allowing participants to experience art and culture firsthand
The following text is from the exhibition page “artist news” of Ginza Tsutaya books. Reprint permission has been obtained by Tsutaya books: https://store.tsite.jp/ginza/blog/art/35507-1836180825.html?_ga=2.241936519.424338429.1697153071-1728839496.1697153071
In September, a solo exhibition of Chihiro Komamine, the artist who dismantles stuffed characters, sews them together into human forms, and uses them as motifs to highlight the differences in people’s values, was held at the “Harawata no idokoro” (Where the guts are) exhibition. The exhibition period has ended.
The artist Chihiro Komamine: Anime and manga stories have saved my life
530×455mm glue, gesso and oil on canvas 2023
Anime and manga are one of Japan’s most iconic cultures. They now influence people around the world and are often at the core of someone’s life values. Chihiro Komamine says that anime and manga stories have saved her life.
Komamine is an artist who physically manifests the differences in the way people perceive stories. She depicts the state of human beings with different values through a series of expressive acts such as dismantling stuffed animals of well-known characters, sewing them back together as new forms, and using them as motifs to draw on a flat surface. The odd-looking forms of her works, upon closer inspection, reveal themselves to be reassembles of familiar characters. The distorted nature of the work expresses the diversity of values that occur within a single story.
Entitled “Where the guts are “, it focuses on the emotion of anger. It is an attempt to find out where the organs that feel anger reside, both physically and mentally. It is also an act of revealing the differences in the points at which people feel anger. The exhibition featured 23 two-dimensional works, including new works, as well as three-dimensional works that were the basis for the new works. When one comes into contact with Chihiro Komamine’s world and experiences a sense of discomfort, one realizes that the viewer’s own sense of values are also brought into relief.
Exhibition Page: https://store.tsite.jp/ginza/blog/art/35507-1836180825.html?_ga=2.241936519.424338429.1697153071-1728839496.1697153071
Artist Statement
I am interested in how people are portrayed according to the values they hold. Often, when talking about anime and manga with friends, the differences in the way we perceive the stories become apparent, and the resulting differences in thought can lead to heated battles over how we should live our lives. Differences in values sometimes lead to the expansion of one’s own view of the world. On the other hand, it is not uncommon in our daily lives to find ourselves in situations where our survival strategy is to hold the breath of the story we believe in.
I want to paint a portrait of human beings as such creatures.
Chihiro Komamine
August 4,2023
Chihiro Komamine
1993 Born in Iwate Prefecture
2017 Graduated from Aichi University of the Arts, Faculty of Art, Department of Fine Arts, Oil Painting
2020 Completed Graduate School of Tohoku University of Art & Design
Solo Exhibitions
2019 Someday I’ll Fly Away Somewhere (Gallery Atochi/Tokyo)
2021 Oh Omamagoto (GALVANIZE gallery/Miyagi)
2022 Summer Vacation in winter (naru gallery/Aichi)
Awards
2021 muni Art Award 2021, Jury Prize by Yasunari Ikenaga and Toshikazu Iura
2023 Osaka Art Festival 2023 Selected Prize
GINZA TSUTAYA BOOKS
Contact
GINZA TSUTAYA BOOKS
6-10-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061
Mail: info.ginza@ccc.co.jp
Onlinestore:http://buyee.jp/yahoo/shopping/store/top/g-tsutayabooks?lang=en
