The article 3 in Mail magazine on October 19th, 2021

Sculptures by Ventura

The work that greets you at the entrance of the exhibition is “Boblo,” a three-meter tall dog with rainbow-colored eyes. Wearing a golden collar and holding a golden bone, it looks like a guardian dog at a shrine or a statue of Vajrapani at a temple, and has a strong presence. Ventura’s sculptures are cute and creepy, sophisticated and rugged, virtual and real, secular and sacred, and give us a sense of the diverse possibilities of art.

Bobro　2018  Fiberglass, resin, acrylic, gold leaf, 317.5× 165.1 ×137.2cm

Especially in Room 2, you can see the “Humanim Series,” a group of colorful bears, the two “Unicorn Horns” that glow with LED lights, and the “Humanim Girl,” which looks like a mix of Greek sculpture and robots. The works are as fun as opening a toy box, and at the same time, they invite us into a playful space full of contradictions, which the artist likes. The use of plastic and fiberglass in Ventura’s works is different from conventional sculptures made of natural materials such as iron, stone, and wood, which all have different expressions.

 

 

Humanime Girl  2011  Fiberglass, resin, stainless steel, 67.3× 114.9× 52.0 ㎝      Unicorn Horn 3 (Left) 2012, 292.1×69.8×69.8 ㎝　                                             Unicorn Horn 2 (Right)  2012,   276.9× 66.0× 66.0㎝

In addition to the exhibition, the museum offers a tour of the glass chapel built by Kengo Kuma and Jean-Michel Othoniel’s sculpture “Kokoro no mon”（Gate of the Heart）. The tour is free of charge for those who have tickets to the exhibition, so please enjoy it together with the exhibition.

 

 

 

(From front) Kokoro no mon, Jean-Michel Othoniel Birch Moss Chapel Kengo Kuma

(Text written by Namino Ishikawa, Curator of the Museum)