Footnotes

Provenance
Kaikai Kiki Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
Sale: Christie's, Shanghai, Asian and Western 20th Century and Contemporary Art, 26 April 2014, Lot 36
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Exhibition
Taiwan, Taipei, Kaikai Kiki Gallery, The Universe Portal, November 2010 - January 2011

高野綾
密室—常春藤屏風
鉛筆 中性筆 壓克力 畫布
2010年作

簽名︰2010 Aya Takano (背面畫布)

來源
台灣 台北 Kaikai Kiki 畫廊
拍賣︰上海佳士得，「亞洲及西方二十世紀及當代藝術」，2014年4月26日，拍品編號36
現藏家得自上述來源

展覽
「世界之間」，台灣台北Kaikai Kiki畫廊，2010年11月-2011年1月

Aya Takano is a female artist whose eclectic practice defies categorisation. Her visual vocabulary encompasses both traditional and contemporary styles. She draws inspirations from diverse sources such as erotic art from the Edo period, lavishly coloured gold leaf panel screens from the Kanō school, the romantic style of Gustav Klimt from the Vienna Secession movement, Surrealism, dynamic hatching lines from Japanese manga, and esoteric mythologies from a wide range of cultures. Her nuanced expressions, vivid imagination, and fantastic worldview enable viewers to leap across different timelines and into her dreamscapes.

At the heart of The Chamber of Ivy Lane Byobu is a room extravagantly covered with gold leaf in the ruggedly decorative style of the Kanō school. The panel screens at the back are gorgeously accented with organic ivy motifs. Following the diagonal lines suggested by the screens receding in space, Aya Takano divides the picture plane and delineates the figures with gentle but brisk brushwork. Thus, a sense of dynamism is created in an otherwise static picture—this treatment draws the viewers' gazes into the centre of the work. The back of the painting is inscribed with a haiku, a traditional Japanese poem. The inclusion of calligraphy in the work evokes a connection with traditional culture, for which Aya Takano has great reverence.

The five young women in the foreground thoroughly showcase Aya Takano's signature artistic style—their lithe figures, languid gazes, and tender skin highlighted with blush at the knees and elbows suggest that the youthful bodies of these characters are going through puberty. When Aya Takano was just starting at Takashi Murakami's Kaikai Kiki Studio right after she graduated from Tama Art University, fantasy video games were at the height of its popularity in Japan. Young women were heavily objectified, and their image were all but reduced to consumer products. Under this cultural climate, female artists suffered similar hardship in their careers. For this reason, Aya Takano constantly strives to reclaim their image—her depiction of young women are always the epitome of unbridled freedom and audaciousness. Works from the 2010 Chamber series are always paired with specific plants and traditional costumes from different cultures. When viewers encounter these characters wearing different traditional Japanese costumes designated for different festivals, they can almost hear the sound of merriment and feel the excitement in the air.

高野綾是一位穿越古今、具備傳統與當代藝術風格的女藝術家。從江戶時期的春宮圖、狩野派的金箔濃彩屏風、古斯塔夫·克里姆特的維也納式浪漫風格、超現實主義、以至日本漫畫中的排線動感、各地的神秘的人類學神話故事均為藝術家所用。她細膩的表達、豐富的想像力、還有奇幻的世界觀，帶領觀眾跳躍時間線，進入到她夢一般的幻想世界。

《密室—常春藤屏風》的畫面中心，是一間金碧輝煌、充滿狩野派粗獷裝飾風格的金箔房間，綴有以常春藤的翠綠色為靈感的屏風。藝術家以屏風的斜線進行空間分割，配以柔和但明快的筆觸，令原本靜止的畫面帶有一種動感，令觀眾聚焦於畫面中心。背景書有日本傳統的俳句，書法意味濃厚，亦帶出高野綾對傳統藝術的熱愛。

前方五個少女充分顯露高野綾獨特的藝術風格——苗條而輕盈的四肢、粉嫩的手肘與膝蓋、散漫的眼神，暗示著女生正在發育時期的青春肉體。此作成畫之時，正是高野綾於2000年從多摩美術大學藝術專業畢業後，跟隨村上隆Kaikai Kiki 藝術工作室創作的時期。當時日本盛行夢幻遊戲，年輕女孩們淪為物質消費的標靶，女性藝術家亦處於相對不利的位置，因此高野綾筆下的青春少艾，總是反映著自由奔放、無拘無束的女性理想。成於2010年的《密室系列》結合植物與各地傳統服飾，人物身穿不同日本傳統祭典服飾，幾乎可以讓我們聽到祭典當中歡樂的聲音，感受當中熱鬧的氛圍。