Aida Makoto's first large-scale solo exhibition opens at the Mori Art Museum on November 17. Entitled "Aida Makoto: Monument for Nothing," it brings together about 100 pieces by the artist under one roof, including some of his more risqué fare that would never normally be shown in a public museum (displayed this time in a room that will be out of bounds to young visitors), a giant monument reflecting the national debate about nuclear power in the wake of last year's nuclear disaster, and several new large-scale paintings. On November 10, the new documentary film Aida: a Natural-Born Artist depicting a year in the life of Aida Makoto, at work in his studio at home and abroad, and including some of his quick-fire repartee with other members of his family, will open at theaters nationwide.
Aida is known for his depictions of the erotic and grotesque, of young girls, war, and other controversial subjects that have earned him the reputation of an artist "too hot to handle." So what taboos is he planning to challenge at that temple of art, the Mori Art Museum? This interview, "Aida in a Minute," is intended to let the artist answer such questions in his own words.
"Aida Makoto: Monument for Nothing"
Saturday, November 17, 2012 - Sunday, March 31, 2013
Aida Makoto (artist)
-- You've had exhibitions before in Japan and overseas, but this is the first time you've had a big exhibition in a major art museum, isn't it?
"Solo exhibitions in small, private galleries have become the norm in my mind for the works I exhibit. But in a place the scale of the Mori Art Museum, the number of works selected can leave it looking empty, or fill the place to the point of feeling stuffy and overcrowded. To be honest, I came to the realization that I'd never know until I tried it. That being said, I've carried on creating pieces without worrying too much about that. I am making some pieces that are bigger than anything I've shown in the past, but the only thing I'm concentrating on now is finishing the new square canvases. This exhibition isn't the goal of my creative existence, after all, and I'm not over-excited by the fact that it's such a big stage. The reason I can say this is that I will continue to be active as an artist long after it's over..."
-- What are your thoughts about the composition of the exhibition? With so many of your works, from the early years to now, together under one roof, will you present them chronologically?
"The plan is to have some paintings from my student days at the entrance, and the big, new work exhibited in the last room. So there might be some sense of chronology, but things do get a bit less clear in the middle. My work is hard to put into categories. If, like some artists, my canvases were of regular sizes, I think it would be more feasible, but the sizes and materials I use for my works are so diverse that it would be difficult to arrange them by year."
Harakiri School Girls
2002
Acrylic on holographic film, print on transparency film
119 x 84.7cm
Collection: Watai Yasuyuki
Courtesy: Mizuma Art Gallery
-- I understand there will be a so-called "R18 room."
"There are some among my works that can't be openly exhibited in public art museums, and I've had a number of meetings with the Mori Art Museum team to discuss how best to deal with those. We considered whether to leave such works out altogether, or to put them in an adult-only room. We decided in favor of setting up an "R18 room" for all the works that we thought unsuitable to be seen by children of elementary and middle school age... As there will be some children's tours entering the exhibition (*1), the R18 room is not planned to be part of their itinerary. Having said that, an art museum is, after all, a public facility. Even so, I wouldn't think of insisting against everyone's better judgment that my more confronting works be hung in such a public arena."
*1 Part of the educational extension programs ("Public Programs") offered during the Mori Art Museum exhibitions
The Great Member Fuji versus King Gidora
1993
Acrylic on acetate fim
91 x 116.7cm
Private Collection
Courtesy: Mizuma Art Gallery
-- I believe there are many artists who would seek to have everyone admitted on an equal footing to see all of their works. Why don't you feel like making such demands?
"The sexual works especially are a delicate issue. . . Looking back to the history of erotic art like shunga (Japanese paintings and woodblock prints of a titillating nature), people always enjoyed such things in secret, as you know. And because we view them in secret, erotic publications take on an extra level of interest. When I was young I used to peek at such things on the sly, with a touch of guilt and slightly shameful feeling. Those times, looking back on them now, I can see as being very satisfying. Not that I'm saying anything and everything should be out in the open. I am fortunate that the Mizuma Art Gallery, which I belong to, has never given me any warning, or issued me with guidelines, about sexual content. And as long as I'm able to exhibit my works in the gallery that I consider my home ground without once having anything banned, I don't feel any particular need to set guidelines for an art museum. I had always thought of some of the works to be displayed in the R18 room (like the "Dog" series) as almost certainly too much for an art museum to show openly, so it's good for me that they've been given the OK to hang in this place."
Photos: Konami Jiro
Text & Edit : Hattori Madoka
■Relevant information
・"Aida Makoto in a Minute"
1. "Because we view them in secret, erotic publications take on an extra level of interest"
2. "About another 10 years painting crazy big canvases"
3. "Disintegration and demise of the Japanese spirit"
・"Aida Makoto: Monument for Nothing"
Saturday, November 17, 2012 - Sunday, March 31, 2013
