Junko Oki
Truly Indispensable
24 April - 8 June 2019
Office Baroque, Brussels
Office Baroque is pleased to announce the second solo exhibition of Junko Oki at our gallery on Bloemenhofplein in Brussels.
Junko Oki started her artistic practice in the year 2002 right before turning 40. Her work consists of embroidery on old fabrics, often several centuries old, collected by her late mother. The material used by Ms. Oki is referred to as Boro, a term that may include textiles from various origins, clothing, weavings used for candle making, tatami rimmings, as well as old bags.
Ms. Oki’s textile compositions are rich and dense. They consist of abstract colored thread drawings implanted like vertiginous, spiraling memories into fabric. The contrast between old and new textile strata signifies an elegiac distance from past ways of living, yet her palimpsest approach can equally evoke proximity. Her aesthetics are shaped by childhood memories as well as a multitude of subliminal experiences.
The repetitive manual labor of stitching and sewing, in the words of Oki, is propelled by two gravitational forces, love and death. Her work focuses primarily on human relationships, particularly those of her family and while exploring these themes, her work ranges out into automatist drawing, surrealism, poetry, art brut as well as feminist art. Oki is known for her two and three dimensional stitched and embroidered works on fabric as well as for a series of artist books.
Installation view Junko Oki Truly Indispensable, Office Baroque, Brussels
Photo: Isabelle Arthuis
Junko Oki, You are what you wear 02, 2019 wooden box, silk, linen, cotton, 80 × 35 × 8 cm (31 1/2 × 13 3/4 × 3 1/8 in)
Installation view Junko Oki Truly Indispensable Office Baroque, Brussels Photo: Isabelle Arthuis
Junko Oki, Feeling unsaid and unspoken words 04, 2019, wooden box, silk, linen, cotton, 25.5 × 16.5 × 14 cm (10 1/8 × 6 1/2 × 5 1/2 in
Installation view Junko Oki Truly Indispensable, Office Baroque, Brussels
Photo: Isabelle Arthuis
Junko Oki, What is truly indispensable 04, 2019 wooden box, silk, cotton, linen, 28.8 × 24.8 × 7.8 cm (11 3/8 × 9 3/4 × 3 1/8 in)
Junko Oki, What is truly indispensable 01, 2019 wooden box, silk, cotton, linen, 28.8 × 24.8 × 7.8 cm (11 3/8 × 9 3/4 × 3 1/8 in)
Junko Oki, What is truly indispensable 02, 2019 wooden box, silk, cotton, linen, 28.8 × 24.8 × 7.8 cm (11 3/8 × 9 3/4 × 3 1/8 in)
Juno Oki, What is truly indispensable 03, 2019, wooden box, silk, cotton, linen, 28.8 × 24.8 × 7.8 cm (11 3/8 × 9 3/4 × 3 1/8 in)
Installation view Junko Oki Truly Indispensable, Office Baroque, Brussels Photo: Isabelle Arthuis
Junko Oki, You have to go beyond extreme solitude 03, 2019, iron, wood, silk, wool, linen, cotton, 40 × 30 × 5 cm (15 3/4 × 11 3/4 × 2 in)
Junko Oki, You are what you wear 01, 2019 iron, bandage, linen, cotton, silk 119 × 53 × 20 cm (46 7/8 × 20 7/8 × 7 7/8 in)
Installation view Junko Oki Truly Indispensable, Office Baroque, Brussels Photo: Isabelle Arthuis
Junko Oki, Feeling unsaid and unspoken words 03, 2019, wooden box, silk, linen, cotton 25.5 × 31.5 × 7 cm (10 1/8 × 12 3/8 × 2 3/4 in)
Installation view Junko Oki Truly Indispensable, Office Baroque, Brussels Photo: Isabelle Arthuis
Junko Oki, You have to go beyond extreme solitude 01, 2019, wooden box, cotton, wool, silk, linen, beeswax, 50 × 30.5 × 7 cm (19 3/4 × 12 1/8 × 2 3/4 in)
Junko Oki, Feeling unsaid and unspoken words 05, 2019, wooden box, silk, linen, cotton 38.5 × 19 × 10 cm (15 1/8 × 7 1/2 × 4 in)
John Divola, N34°10.466’W115°54.878’, 1995-98, HP Vivera Pigment on Epson Exhibition Fiber 61 × 50.8 cm (24 × 20 in)
Edition 6 of 8 plus 2 AP
Junko Oki, You have to go beyond extreme solitude 02, 2019, wooden box, wire mesh, silk, linen, cotton, beeswax, 58 × 60 × 13 cm (22 7/8 × 23 5/8 × 5 1/8 in)
Junko Oki, Wrapping a bandage around my hand 01, 2019, iron, bandage, beeswax 74 × 73 × 4 cm (29 1/8 × 28 3/4 × 1 5/8 in)
About Junko Oki
Artist page
Junko Oki is based in Kanagawa, Japan and had solo exhibitions at Kosaku Kanechica, Shiseido Gallery, Dee’s Hall and Morioka Shoten, Tokyo. Major group exhibitions include 7 Artists at Kosaku Kanechica, Tokyo (2019); Yamagata Biennale, Yamagata (2018); Nous sewing and living at 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa (2016). Her works are included in the permanent collection of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa.