12 Jan 2009

Para/Site Art Space presents Tatsumi Orimoto

Japanese Artist Tatsumi Orimoto Brings His Bread-Man Performance to Hong Kong

Para/Site Art Space is honored to present two new performances by Tatsumi Orimoto. The Japanese artist will perform his Bread-Man series in the area around Graham Street Market on the 16th of January. On the following day, he will perform his Finger Dolls series at Para/Site Art Space.

This is the first time he performs in China, and for the occasion he will recreate Bread-Man, which is a historic street action that he started in 1991. This time a large group of unique Bread-Men will walk through the streets of Hong Kong.

Tatsumi Orimoto (1946, Kawasaki, Japan) is one of the most renowned Japanese photographers and art performers. He moved to California where he studied at California Institute of the Arts, relocating later to New York where he was an assistant to Fluxus artist Nam Jun Paik. He participated in the Fluxus exhibition in New York, and later developed a collaborative work with Viennese Actionist Herman Nitsch. Ever since he went back to Japan in 1977, he has been devoting himself to his art works and the care of his elderly mother. This resulted in the project Art Mama, which has played a central role in the development of his later work as he started documenting the aging process of his Alzheimer's mother.

His performances are connected to the everyday experience of life. Through Bread-Man, he has created an alter ego that represents modern life and how we relate to the Other in contemporary society. Setting out from Para/Site Art Space at 5pm, Orimoto will take his fellow Bread-Men down Hollywood Road and go straight into Graham Street Market, a famous wet market in Hong Kong, where the consort of Bread-Men will communicate with the public.

Finger Dolls, the other event that is taking place in Hong Kong, relates to his latest project in which a sculptural component is brought into life, as the finger dolls used in this performance are crafted by the artist. Orimoto uses a common child toy and updates it into adult life. The performance will begin at 3pm at Para/Site Art Space, followed by a lecture by the artist himself.

Tatsumi Orimoto has exhibited in the Venice Biennial 2001, Yokohama Triennial 2001, Sharjah Biennial 2002, Busan Biennial 2002, Sao Paolo Biennial 2002 and B. Open at BALTIC Centre of Contemporary Art, among others. He lives and works with his mother in Kawasaki, Japan.

For more information, please contact Dominique Chiu at (+852) 2517-4620 or Dominique@para-site.org.hk.