“Time is the longest distance between two places.”

― Tennessee Williams, ‘The Glass Menagerie’

Ikkan Art Gallery is pleased to present Timely Manoeuvres, an exhibition that brings together a selection of artworks by 13 internationally renowned artists: Tatsuo Miyajima, Mariko Mori, Felix Gonzales-Torres, Fred Sandback, Richard Serra, Sol LeWitt, Carla Klein, Oliver Herring, Ai Weiwei, Tobias Putrih, Brice Marden, Tomohiro Kato and Mikito Ozeki. While the material and visual sensibilities of each artist are largely contradistinctive to one another, the works here evoke a keen sense of temporality and its associations with memory, mortality and perceptions of space.

A key installation of Timely Manoeuvres is an early work from 1990 by one of Japan’s foremost sculptor and installation artist Tatsuo Miyajima. Set in a dark room, ‘Series 133651 Lattice-A & C (in 80 parts)’ is a grid of digital light-emitting diode (LED) counters spanning the length of 3 walls. Another highlight of the exhibition is ‘Untitled (Last Light)’ by the late Cuban-born American artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres. Comprising of a 24-foot long electrical wire punctuated by 24 white light bulbs at 6-inch intervals, the work is a quiet contemplation of mortality, loss and the passing of time.

Also exhibited are works by acclaimed figures of the last 50 years: ‘St. Louis’ – a monotype by the American artist Richard Serra, ‘Untitled (Green on Dark Green: Irregular Grid)’ – a gouache on paper work from 2003 by the late American artist Sol LeWitt, ‘Untitled (Pink Triangle)’ – a sculpture made of pink acrylic yarn from 1994 by the late American artist Fred Sandback, ‘Untitled’ – an ink on paper work from 1981 by the American artist Brice Marden, as well as ‘Marble Plate’ – a marble sculpture from 2009 by the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei that extends on his exploration of traditional Chinese materials and forms.