Artists Yuki Okumura, Hisachika Takahashi
Venue Basel in June 2019, Basel
All images Courtesy of the artists and MISAKO & ROSEN, Tokyo.
Those 1966–67 paintings by Takahashi, the then-assistant to Lucio Fontana, feature layers of flower patterns with fluorescent paints applied by — or in collaboration with, according to the artist — embossed rubber rollers for home wall decoration. After realizing a number of dual exhibitions in Europe and Japan exploring their shared interest in memory and authorship, Okumura and Takahashi once again joined forces in 2019, creating six pieces by means of literally putting together each other’s “studies” — namely Takahashi’s tests of different roller patterns in 1966, applied on transparent vinyl sheets, and Okumura’s search results for the mysterious senior artist on the Internet in 2013 before meeting him in person, printed on transparent polyethylene films. The latter was initially materialized for their joint exhibition “Hisachika Takahashi by Yuki Okumura” at Maison Hermès Le Forum, Tokyo, 2016, curated by Reiko Setsuda. The special wooden frame also commemorates the original installation in Tokyo.
