*Exhibition Extended

The Hara Museum of Contemporary Art is proud to present the exhibition Jim Lambie: Unknown Pleasures. Selected as the Scottish representative at the Venice Biennale (2003) and nominated for the Turner Prize (2005), the most prestigious honor in the world of British contemporary art, Lambie has achieved a number of milestones in recent years. This exhibition features Lambie’s trademark psychedelic floor installations with sculptural works consisting of dramatically transformed everyday objects which together co-star, collaborate or compete with the unique space of the Hara Museum. Many of the works are appearing in Japan for the first time.

“Discovered” by Wassily Kandinsky at the beginning of the 20th century, abstract art went on to give blossom in the mid-60s to the large flower known as “Op Art,” which changed art from image to illusion, giving spectators a new kind of visual experience. Born during the heyday of the Op Art movement, Jim Lambie lays down tapes in precise geometric patterns over entire floors that boldly transform the space itself. Through his installations, he probes the use of abstraction to create rich visual experiences, as well as the possibilities that they hold. Furthermore, Lambie takes daily objects such as chairs, beds, records and record players that have been boldly yet sensitively decorated and places them skillfully into his installations to bring “unknown pleasures” into our sights.

When we step into a space created by Lambie, our eyes begin to “reply” to the geometric patterns on the floor. We experience illusionistic space that vibrates with a regular rhythm, shrinking and expanding, even inducing a feeling of vertigo, until at some point we forget we are in a museum and feel the space expanding without limit within the inner depths of our consciousness. Lambie, who continues to live life immersed in music through band and DJ activities, talks about music in a way that mirrors this sensation: “You put a record on and it’s like all the edges disappear.” Through the mechanisms behind perception, the psychological and behavioral restraints that surround us temporarily disappear, transforming life into something vigorous and robust. One might consider this sense of “being alive” to be the end state of Lambie’s abstraction.

Special support from: British Council
Supported by: The Asahi Shimbun Foundation
Sponsored by: TGA Co., Ltd.
Cooperation provided by: Yoshiko Isshiki Office, Nakagawa Chemical, Inc., Kind, Ltd., Sadie Coles HQ,
The Modern Institute / Toby Webster Ltd.

Jim Lambie
Lambie was born in Glasgow in 1964 and graduated from the Glasgow School of Art. After playing in a band, he began his representative work Zobop in 1999. In 2003, he was selected to represent Scotland at the Venice Biennale, and in 2005, was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2005. In Japan, he has participated in various exhibitions, including the solo exhibition P.I.L. at the Mizuma Art Gallery (2006) and the three-man show Melting Point at the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery (2007). One work from his Zobop series has been installed as a permanent installation at the Towada Art Center, which opened in April of this year.

Courtesy the artist, Sadie Coles HQ, London and The Modern Institute / Toby Webster Ltd., Glasgow (Image for reference only）

Image: Head Shadow, 2008, Bag, dartboard, handbag straps, spray cans, acrylic paint, gloss paint, dimensions variable