T. I. F. Stories
By Tatsumi Shinoda (Selection Director for Tokyo International Forum Artwork)
Artworks Gathered in “Ship of Diversity” 8
Martin Puryear
Southern France is a region drenched in sunlight and very colorful. Above all, Nimes is a beautiful town. The town, which is the origin of the name of the fabric, denim, is historically famous for fabric. The old times and today are mixed. At the side of an ancient Roman site, there is a square-shaped glass-walled modern museum. At the sea side, there is a place which is close to a primitive stratum.
There is a work of art which can be said to be the “navel” of the collection of the International Forum. Among the three works in the space of the vaulted ceiling of the B Block, it is the one made of black metal net, located at the staircase landing.
Among the three works, Kelly’s panel on the wall surface is receiving sunlight from the large square window which widens down to your feet. In southern France, it is very colorful not only in the sun but also in the shade, but I asked for a painting to hang on the wall surface opposite the sunlight to Viallat, a painter from southern France. The staircase landing where Puryear’s carved piece is located receives oblique sunlight from the window. As a result, we can see the delicate net workmanship in the black metal net carving.
When you speak about net workmanship, almost transparent to the light, it reminds me of an old black hat which Japanese men used in the Heian Period. This carved piece located at the staircase landing in the space of vaulted ceiling is, however, far taller than human height. If you pay attention to its unpredictability of size, you may count that as one of its attractiveness.
This carved piece, which reminds me of the socks of a cat’s forefoot, looks as if it belongs to the world of a rather childish, simple bright melody such as giant stuffed dolls or a young man’s large shoe.
Baskets which look like this carved piece are often used, not only for agriculture, but also for fishing. The interesting point of Puryear’s work is: while it looks like an overgrown native basket, it also looks as if the shape is saving the energy of life. It is as if small and simple shapes have potentialities before starting growth, such as grains and seeds, and then suddenly enlarge.
When I actually met Puryear, an African American, he was a silent gentleman. Touched with gray hair, he had sensitivity and accumulated inner energy.
The competition to obtain this work was started when I went to New York to see Puryear’s exhibition. While I was admiring the work, people from a museum of South America were already raising their hands. I could obtain it after negotiating, but my heart pounded rapidly until the moment I opened the package, sent from New York, at a warehouse in Tokyo.
From the packaged box, Puryear’s native but sophisticated semi-transparent black net carving work appeared. When I saw this, I knew I could complete the finishing touch for the concept of the collection - “Ship of Diversity”.
Location: B Block, 7F Lobby
photo (c) Sadamu Saito & Toru Misawa
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“Ship of Diversity” = Artwork Collection Concept of the Tokyo International Forum
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