Parade from far far away

ArtistTERUYA Yuken
Year2015
Material/ Techniquecolor pigment on linen
Size/ DurationH168 × W140cm
Copyright Notice© yuken teruya
Year of acquisition/ donation2016
DescriptionBorn in Okinawa, Japan in 1973. Lives and works in New York, USA and Berlin, Germany.

After graduating from Tama Art University with a major in oil painting in 1996, Teruya Yuken studied at Maryland Institute College of Art in 1999 and completed an MFA at the School of Visual Arts in 2001. He has a keen awareness of subjects such as history and identity and expresses his unique viewpoint with a light touch. Impacted by the complex circumstances peculiar to his birthplace of Okinawa, Teruya’s practice deeply embraces the question and remark of how one should address such issues given that the essence of a matter or a phenomenon cannot be understood from just one perspective.

"Notice-Forest: Astor Place, NYC" was created as an homage to the trees that are cut down to produce the paper bags that are consumed in such large numbers daily at fast food outlets, which could be said to be symbols of globalization. The same use of daily necessities and familiar objects to give clear and insightful expression to the problems of contemporary society can be seen in "Earn lots of money. No need to write any letters, just send home the money first 2008", which combines cardboard and video. In "Minding My Own Business: Voices (New York Times 3/14/11)", which was created in response to The Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011, plant shoots are cut out of the front page of a copy of the New York Times containing news of the disaster and made to stand up. Here we can discern commonalities between the handling of information relating to the disaster by overseas media and Teruya’s own perspective as someone living overseas viewing Japan from outside. "Parade from far far away", which takes the form of a traditional Ryukyuan garment with allusions to the history of Teruya’s birthplace, is an important piece that draws on the work of local craftspeople that was brought to a halt by the war in expressing the identity of the Ryukyuan people. It is an attempt to ensure history remains in our memory for a long time by depicting people marching for the purposes not of resistance but of peace.

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