MISA NAMEKAWA


The theme of "Fragile Art" is destruction and reconstruction. I placed five-inch-tall plaster versions of the Statue of Liberty on the streets. After pedestrians kicked and stepped on them, I collected the broken pieces, assembled them back into their original form, and photographed them. I will present the photographs of reassembled statues in the streets.

LOCATION:

[Manhattan] Chelsea (22St, 10 & 11 Ave) / 23 St & 6 Ave / 2 Ave, btw 51 & 52 St

[Brooklyn] Fulton St in Bedford-Stuyvesant

any other places where it is possible to post photo copies

ABOUT THE ARTIST:

I have been interested in human beings, culture and history. Therefore, although I understood that my method for expressing myself was art, I studied sociology and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Osaka University in Japan in 1981. After the graduation, I learned drawing at the Osaka Municipal Institute of Fine Arts from 1981 to 1984, while studying copper printing under a renowned copper printer, Mr. Shigeru Kimura.

My main works in Japan were copper printings. Through creating copper printings, I pursued who I was and my inner world. I exhibited them at solo shows and selected group shows every year from 1982 onwards. After twelve years, I decided to leave Japan in order to develop my art further and came to New York in 1995. The first few years in New York, I painted enlarged versions of my body parts on collaged brown paper bags and exhibited them in New York in 1997. While I pursued my paintings, I began to think about contacting directly the people who are here in New York, in my art. Thus, the project "Fragile Art" started in 1999.

I received DCA Grants from the Brooklyn Arts Council & the BAC-2001 Community Arts Regrant Program in 2001 for the exhibition of "Fragile Art" at the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, 2001. I obtained a green card as an artist in 1997.

STATEMENT:

Since nothing can avoid transformation, is "Fragility" in the art work or in the concept of it ? "Fragile Art" begins with the destruction of a contemporary icon.
The theme of "Fragile Art" is destruction and reconstruction. I placed five-inch-tall plaster versions of the Statue of Liberty on the streets. After pedestrians kicked and stepped on them, I collected the broken pieces, assembled them back into their original form, and photographed them. I created 57"x28" digital prints of the photographs for a gallery. I will also design a poster displaying the photographs using a computer, to be exhibited it in public places, ideally on billboards and at bus stop shelters. I would like to show "Fragile Art" to pedestrians, because this project could not have been accomplished without them. Inadvertently, those who participated in creating it will appreciate the results when they see it later in the street. They may live here to fulfill their dreams, which the Statue of Liberty may represent.

The plaster statues which were kicked and stepped on by pedestrians represent me. I related my own transformation to the transfiguration of the plaster statues. Through printmaking, drawing, and painting, I have explored who I am since arriving in New York in 1995. Living in this international city made it impossible for me to remain the same. Parts of me changed from exposure to the variety of people and cultures. I wished to interact with them through my art, and started this project in 1999. The plaster statues were changed by pedestrians just as I was transformed by the people of New York.

This transformation starts with a symbolic death. I believe that we experience a few symbolic deaths in our lives. After the infinite chaos of death, we are reborn into a new life. Every aspect, including the physical, biological, and mental spheres, represents a dynamic of death and rebirth. History itself reflects this dynamic. By simulating a historical deformation of the Statue of Liberty, I try to rethink the meaning of the freedom that we recognize in it. Over time, the statue will deteriorate. The ideas attached to it will also be forgotten or transformed. Our descendants, who will have new conceptions of freedom, will see the broken Statue of Liberty as we see Venus de Milo. By the symbolic destruction and reconstruction of this world icon, I envision a transformation of our current values to make room for a new view of freedom.

Although I couldn't imagine the tragedy of the World Trade Center when I started my project in 1999, I was thinking about the transformation of the world for the 21st century. I believe that this incident is one of the most important turning points in history. Now is the time to create a new direction in our lives in order to live in peace. I hope "Fragile Art" will motivate people to find it.