2025年 03月 10日 Masahiko Yamamoto Exhibition “Modern Animism”

Preview of the Masahiko Yamamoto Exhibition Online Store is now open. The purchase procedure will be available from 20:00 tomorrow, March 11. Until then, the name of the store will be COMIG SOON, but you can check the price by clicking on the name of each item. Please note that the items will be sold at the storefront at the same time, so they may be sold out first. Please understand in advance.

Masahiko Yamamoto Exhibition Online Store

https://utsuwanoteshop.stores.jp/

Sales period: 3/11 20:00-3/15 21:00

Masahiko Yamamoto Exhibition “Modern Animism”

Saturday, March 8 - Saturday, March 15, 2025

11:00-18:00, last day until 17:00

gallery utsuwanote

1-7-6 Kosenba-cho, Kawagoe-shi, Saitama

Brief History

1981 Born in Takatori Town, Nara Prefecture

2003 Entered Kyoto Prefectural College of Advanced Ceramic Technology

2004 Studied under Shin Murata

2007 Started his own business in Takatori-cho, Nara

2012 Moved his studio and residence to Gosho, Nara

2017 Moved to Soni Village, Nara Prefecture

2025 Presently working there

Explanation

Animism is an ancient and profound philosophy based on the belief that objects and natural things have spiritual existence and life. This belief is sometimes expressed through the visual representation of patterns, which, especially in indigenous cultures, symbolize a sacred connection to nature and spirits and serve to attract spiritual forces and keep evil spirits at bay. In the Native American view of nature, everything in the natural world is considered sacred, and harmony with nature is the basis of life. The idea of symbiosis, in which delicate relationships with spirits, circulation, and balance are respected, and the prosperity of the entire community is considered, has many implications for our times.

What Masahiko Yamamoto of Soni Village, Nara Prefecture, creates is truly a wonderful fusion of ancient wisdom and modern techniques, and has the power to resonate with the souls of modern people as a new message. The moment I touched his work, I sensed its animalistic physicality and was surprised by its deep meaning, which is interwoven with the animism that underlies it and its practicality as a tool. I was reminded once again that tools have been imbued with feelings of nature worship, faith, and awe since ancient times. Yamamoto's works reinterpret ethnic cultures that have been cultivated over the years using modern techniques, and attempt to bring them to our hearts in a new form. As such, they evoke in us a sense of animism that tools once possessed, an impulse that cannot be described in words. Store Owner