Born in Kyoto in 1972, Odani is currently based in Tokyo while teaching at the Tokyo University of the Arts, where he holds a BFA in sculpture and an MFA. Since his first solo exhibition in 1997, he has actively exhibited works both in Japan and abroad, and was chosen as the Japanese representative artist in the Venice Biennale in 2003.

Using a variety of methods and materials such as photography, film and installation, Odani has produced numerous works that capture the moment of human "pain" or "transformation," and continues to work toward representing the dynamism of the human body. In his new work on exhibit at Le Forum, Odani attempts to visualize the movement of the air circling around the body, using human body image as medium. There exist a variety of movements surrounding our bodies – physical movements that cannot be visually recognized such as gravity and buoyancy, or spiritual phenomena such as qi (air) and aura that are emitted from within our bodies. For example, when the vector of gravity is altered, or when we succumb to the ecstasy of the mind and body, our bodies are released from normal gravity and become distorted beyond the current dimension. What Odani creates in "Hollow" is the afterimage of the human body that exists in this other dimension. By being dismantled into parts and reconstructed as sculpture, movements such as splitting, reversing, falling and surfacing float mid-air like empty shells of human bodies caught in a certain moment.

The air emitted by the white sculpture is "hollow" as the title suggests, and seems to upset the vector of gravity for those who set foot into the room. Through the eros and pain that fill the space, we experience an awakening and an extension of new sensations of the human body.

* The text provided by Fondation d'entreprise Hermès.