Yuichi Higashionna

signed and titled in English and dated 2009, this work is number 3 from an edition of 3

This work is generally in good condition.
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A Sculpture Monster
Yuichi Higashionna

The 1980’s in Japan was no doubt a crucial period for Yuichi Higashionna, who saw newfound opportunities for experimentation with the rise of Post-modernism, and began to create works that strayed away from the modernist critique of his own generation. Started with the paintings on manufactured printed fabric in his first solo exhibition in 1987, after 25 years, Higashionna has successfully traversed through a wide range of medium while retaining his pivotal stand from following the many different popular trends within the Japanese art scene. The Chandelier series since 2001, in which Untitled (Chandelier No. 2) (Lot 840) belongs, can be considered to be one of the most well-known series from the artist.

Throughout his works, Higashionna has continuously cited the influence from the “kitsch, girlish, and tacky” objects found in the interior of Japanese homes in the 1970’s, which he called fanshii in Japanese. “Living in Japan, I am very familiar with such fanshii things, but I have never liked them. In my opinion there is even something ‘uncanny’ about them, in a Freudian sense. It is difficult for me to describe their ‘uncanniness’ but it has certainly been a motivating factor in the work I create.”¹ For the Chandelier series, intrigued by the 'uncanny' feeling he gets from the everyday life and the dominant and ubiquitous 'fluorescent lamp culture' in Japan, Higashionna creates monster-like light sculptures from the Japanese circular fluorescent light tubes. As the artist boldly states, “this series is my tribute, both an homage and a satire, to the Japanese ‘fluorescent culture’ that fascinates me and at the same time makes me uncomfortable. Yes- my aim was to make a fluorescent-lamp monster!”²

The present lot adds a new dimension to the otherwise pure white fluorescent light sculpture with a glamorous yet satirical black outer skin. Along with the plastic straps and exposed electric cords, the transformation of the fluorescent tubes are rendered to mesmerize at first glance yet arouse a sense of awkwardness when being viewed and stared repeatedly for a prolonged period of time. The dichotomy between the surreal and the uncomfortable also forces the audience to explicitly confront the unexplainable in our daily lives. There is certainly a similarity between the fanshii objects mentioned by Yuichi Higashionna and the cute and cuddly visuals seen in Japanese contemporary art, most notably in the works by Takashi Murakami and Yoshitomo Nara. However, the minimalistic aesthetics of the Chandelier series has clearly set Higashionna’s unique artistic language apart from other artists of his time.

1 Gasbook 25: Yuichi Higashionna, Gas As Interface Co., 2008
2 Refer to 1