Yuki Okumura’s work explores the concept of identity. As an artist, film-maker and writer, he creates works that extend and examine the boundaries of self and others.
Okumura was born in Aomori, Northern Japan in 1978. In 2002, he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Tama Art University in Tokyo, during which time he spent a year studying in Australia at Queensland College of Art. In 2004, Okumura received a Masters of Fine Arts degree at Tokyo University of the Arts, and in 2006 spent six months in New York City on an Asian Cultural Council grant at Location One.
Selected exhibitions include: in 2001, a group exhibition “The First Steps: Emerging Artist from Japan” at the Grey Art Gallery (New York); in 2002, a group exhibition “Emotional Site” at the Sagacho Shokuryo Building (Tokyo); in 2005, GROUP OR SOLO? “Be Here Now” at the Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Art Conference Room (Tochigi); in 2006, a group exhibition “Everyday Life is a Microcosm” at the Cornell University Department of Art’s Experimental Studio (Ithaca, New York); in 2007, a solo exhibition “Pop” at the Gallery SOAP (Kitakyushu, Fukuoka) and a solo exhibition “Half the World Away” at the Process Room, Irish Museum of Modern Art, (Dublin); in 2008, a solo exhibition “I Me Mine” at Misako & Rosen (Tokyo) and a group exhibition “Now That I’m By Myself,” She Says, “I’m Not By Myself, Which is Good” at the Diverse Works, Art Space(Houston, Texas). In addition to exhibitions Okumura has held many screenings of his video works. In 2000, he won the Grand Prix at the “Philip Morris Art Award.”
In commenting on his work, Okumura has said, “The true boundary between self and others lies not at the skin, which divides the inner space and the outer space, but at the invisible membrane between self and the world … My practice is an attempt to illuminate this reality from various angles.”
www.japan.usembassy.gov/art/e/artres2010-okumura.html
Website
http://www.yukiokumura.com
