Main Gallery Area Artist
Artist Information
Hisako Inoue
1974 Born in Yokohama
1999 Graduated the Master program of Fine Arts at Joshibi University of Art and Design
2001 “Marble project vol.2, Marble Lovers - on home ground -”, Solo exhibition, Kawaguchi Contemporary Art Studio (Saitama,Japan)
2002 “NEW MEDIA NEW FACE'02”, Group exhibition, NTT Inter Communication Center[ICC] (Tokyo,Japan)
2008 “Beyond my vision”, Group exhibition, Gallery Azamino (Yokohama,Japan)
2017 “Play with Taro”, Group exhibition, Taro Okamoto Museum of Art (Kawasaki,Japan)
2017-2018 “The library of Smell”, Collaboration with Mika Shirasu and Takuro Shibayama, Museum Villa Stuck (Munich,Germany)
Hisako Inoue (*1974) creates interactive art spaces in art museums and galleries with her scent and sound installations. Since 1996, she has worked on the sound part of her installations in collaboration with Takurô Sibayama. The artist’s work is exhibited in the permanent collections of the Joshibi Art Museum in Kangaway and the Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts in Tokyo.Since 2007 workshops have become a focal point of Hisako Inoue’s work. They are based on the concept of “smell and memories,” and conceived to meet the diverse requirements of a specific program, location, culture, history, behavior or even the influences from seasonal or general weather conditions.Recent workshops have included the 2016 Kun-kun Walk at Yokosuka Art Museum (Handicapped Persons Program) and the Ander Art Festival 2016 in Munich (Sniffing station). The artist’s intention, a kind of experiment, is to encourage participants to share their opinions and feelings, in relation to the workshop’s concept, and to deal with the combined “artwork and collective memories.” Since 2012, Hisako Inoue has collaborated with many specialists ranging from environmental researchers, biologists, olfaction experts, such as Mika Shirasu, deaf and blind people. Her aim is to create a new style of communication and take this program to many countries all over the world.She has been awarded a number of scholarships, the most recent being as an International Artist in Residence at the Villa Waldberta in Munich (2016), and she has taken part in numerous solo and group exhibitions. In 2017 the artist’s work was shown at the group exhibition “Play with Taro Okamoto” at the Taro Okamoto Museum of Art in Kawasaki. 2017-2018 “The Llibrary of Smell” Exhibition (collaboration with Mika Shirasu and Takuro Shibayama) at Museum Villa Stuck in Munich.
Mika Shirasu
Born in Tokyo
2009 Ph.D. course in the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, the University of Tokyo
After obtaining a degree in biochemistry from The University of Tokyo, Mika Shirasu continued her studies at the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo. In 2009, she received the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Achievement for her Ph. D work. Currently a Project Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Mika Shirasu recently received the Research Award for Young Scientists of the Japanese Association for the Study of Taste and Smell. This work is funded by JST, ERATO(JPMJER1202), JST-Mirai Program(JPMJMI17DC).
[Comment by Selector]
An artist’s atelier is filled with different aromas: the scent of canvas cloth, of drawing paper, of paints and pigments, of solvent oils and sometimes even of accumulated mold in an old room. What Hisako Inoue uses as material for her work are these smells themselves. Her work is not something tangible like a painting, a sculpture or a photograph. It is actually the sensations provoked by smell, which are developed though language and the time she spends communicating with participants in her workshops. She is truly an ambitious artist. The viewers – or should we say participants – feel the invisible sense of smell and, by completely allowing Inoue to lead the way, dive into the swirl of imagination. At this year’s 3331 ART FAIR, “The Library of Smell”, a collaborative exhibition by Inoue and olfactory expert Mika Shirasu which was shown at the Villa Stuck Museum in Munich in 2017, will be set up in the third floor room 313 as “The Museum of Smell”. During the fair, “The Museum of Smell” will host both “The Library of Smell Workshop” and “KUN KUN WALK @ 3331 – Walking through the ART FAIR with your nose’s Antenna – ”. Experiencing the work of Inoue is taking part in the workshop and tour, and deepening your sense of smell under the artist’s guidance. We urge you to experience this process.