wataru komachi is a canvas chamelion ..............................................................................................................................................................................
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wataru komachi
- march 2001 - is a canvas chamelion. the tokyo-based artist scouts charity shops and fleamarkets for discarded furniture, anything from sofas and launch chairs to hanging scrolls, yellowing lampshades and office chairs and recovers them with vivid silkscreen prints of american elvises, chinese maos, indian bindi salegirls, brit rockers and biblical adams and eves, all interspliced with subtle text messages. it has nothing to do with recycling in an ecological way, he wants to refresh, reincarnate leftover items, offering them a second chanceat life and investing them with a sense of spirituality in both the eyes of the artist and the viewer. komachi has shown his work predominately in tokyo and osaka, at edgy galleries like 'the deep'. in spring 2000 he took part in a group show at colette in paris. from 01 october until 21 december 2000, new works by wataru komachi have been on show (and for sale) at the 3 christophe lemaire flagship store boutiques, 2 in paris and 1 in tokyo. for this exhibition, komachi conceived and created a salon space in each boutique, equipped with an original sofa, chair, ottoman, floor- and table lamps, as well as hanging scrolls and limited edition t-shirts. in line with komachi's democratic approach to art, prices were not be set. instead, a silent auction were held throughout the exhibitions and on the lemaire website http://www.christophe-lemaire.com a part of these installations are now on display at 'le bon marche' department store in paris (until 7 april 2001). --- ------- monthly designboom newsletter ------- ------- ? comments and contact us ? -------