LEIKO IKEMURA. Sculptures, Paintings, Works on Paper

KOLUMBA, art museum of the archbishopric of Cologne

21. 10. 2005 - 22. 2. 2006


Visitors to the exhibition of works by Leiko Ikemura will find themselves captured in a pictorial world where the hidden becomes visible. Figures of the night danc flittingly across the walls like chimeras, conjuring dark myths. Jerking, struggling, fighting and fleeing, they form a counter pole to the composed sculptures, which in their incompleteness seem at once strange and familiar. The often childlike and girlishly graceful figures appear to have momentarily paused, thus giving space to an inner motion of hurt and pain, but also of joy and reverie.

Oscillating between figure and vessel, the sculptural form moves organically from human to animal to plant nature - completely naturally and without the categorical borders which our brains apparently need to order what we see. Thus a unique pictorial world is created, filled with strange creatures uniting in themselves the many diverse aspects of nature. These appearances are fleeting and changeable; fixed borders are washed away just like on a stormy day at the sea when – as in Leiko Ikemura's painted travel notes – water and wind converge at the horizon and melt into one another. This first overview of works by the Japanese artist who lives in Cologne and Berlin includes works created since 1983 and exhibited for the very first time. At the same time it provides an insight into Kolumba's own collection. The exhibited sculptures, paintings and works on paper will be published in a catalogue to accompany the exhibition.


Author Text & deutsche Version: KOLUMBA
Werkbuch Leiko Ikemura Link: KOLUMBA


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