Kishio Suga
Corresponding Space
He Art Museum, Foshan, China
Since the late 1960s, Kishio Suga has centered his practice on exploring the presence and interconnection of “Things” (objects). In a time marked by rapid capitalist growth and the proliferation of industrial products, Suga drew from theoretical frameworks including East Asian traditional aesthetics, Indian Buddhism, and existentialist philosophy, aiming to uncover the true nature of “Things.”
As one of the leading artists of the “Mono-ha” (School of Things) movement, Suga minimized his intervention during the creative process. By positioning raw materials or natural elements like wood, soil, stones, metals, or knots in various configurations, he sought to connect these “Things” with their surrounding space. In these sites, “Things” broke free from conventional paradigms of perception, such as functionality or symbolism, finally revealing their situation of truly existing.
This exhibition presents Suga’s artistic practice since the early 1970s. The museum’s unique curved space and the shifting sunlight imbue the works with an ever-changing texture, bringing out multiple facets of the “Things,” the spaces, and even the viewers themselves.