Te Uru brings international artist to West Auckland

Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery is delighted to announce the visit of up and coming Japanese artist, Yukihiro Taguchi, who will be traveling from Berlin to make an Auckland-based work that will be presented at Te Uru in Titirangi, at the end of April.

Taguchi Yukihiro, born in Osaka and based in Berlin, is an artist on the rise, lauded for his unique works that combine drawing, performance, animation and installation. Using everyday materials found in his immediate vicinity, Taguchi creates formations that are animated through stop-motion techniques. Styrofoam becomes a cigarette-wielding rabbit. Sprinklings of dirt cluster together to create a guiding hand. Floorboards are ripped up and dance around the room. Described as “compellingly hypnotic”, Taguchi’s works show the potential for play and reinvention in any place.

From the beginning of April, Taguchi will be in Tāmaki-makau-rau for developing a new humorous project that travels through and reacts to the city. In addition to responding to the things that cross his path, the nature of Taguchi’s work often requires a team, as the objects need to be assembled and reassembled for each photograph that are then joined together to make a single video. In the past, this has opened up opportunities for local audiences to join in the making of an artwork. In 2014, for the making of Von Kohle und Kulissen, the process also doubled as an education workshop, where many children delighted in moving objects around to be photographed.

This visit by an international artist is a timely opportunity to consider how artists who travel to other places might engage with a new land in a manner that is both responsive, respectful and participatory.

“Yukihiro’s work reacts to local environments in the way he utilises and engages with whatever he finds in his immediate surroundings”, says Te Uru director Andrew Clifford. “Bringing an international artist to create work in response to West Auckland continues our interest in thinking globally, but always being locally- minded in our approach to that. We look forward to introducing him to our community and developing this new work with them.”

The project follows on from last year’s much-enjoyed presentation at Te Uru of Taguchi’s past works as part of the exhibition Yukihiro Taguchi: In Formation.

Yukihiro Taguchi will be visiting Tāmaki-makau-rau for the month of April. His solo exhibition runs at Te Uru from 22 April – 18 June 2017. His visit is supported by the Chartwell Trust.

Hours: 10am – 4.30pm daily Address: 420 Titirangi Road, Titirangi, Auckland
Website: www.teuru.org.nz