Naotaka Hiro

Naotaka Hiro

Born in Osaka, Japan, 1972
Lives and works in Los Angeles
 
Education
California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, California, MFA, 2000
University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, BA, 1997
 
 
Solo Exhibitions
 
2019
(forthcoming) Brennan & Griffin, New York, NY
(forthcoming) Misako & Rosen, Tokyo, Japan

2018
Breaking the Waves, Shane Campbell Gallery, Chicago, IL
 
2017
Gibbous, Brennan & Griffin, New York
 
2016
Peaking, The Box, Los Angeles 
Big Question, Brennan & Griffin, New York
 
2015
Red Olive, Golden Lips, Misako & Rosen, Tokyo
 
2013
Pit and Log, Brennan & Griffin, New York
 
2012
Unknown, Video Works 2008 – 2011, Brennan & Griffin, New York
 
2009
To and From, with Sid M. Dueñas, Dobaebacsa, Seoul
 
2008
Wrong Person, Misako & Rosen, Tokyo
Naotaka Hiro, The Box, Los Angeles
To and From, with Sid M. Dueñas, The Box, Los Angeles
 
2007
Knows Nothing, Misako & Rosen, Tokyo
 
1999
Naotaka Hiro, Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo
 
 
Selected Group Exhibitions
 
2019
Miho Dohi, Naotaka Hiro, Wataru Tominaga, Nonaka-Hill, Los Angeles, CA
 
2018
Happy Mind - Natural High, Misako & Rosen, Tokyo
Naotaka Hiro, Eric Wesley, Pooneh Maghazehe & Robin Peck, Step Sister, New York, NY
Made in L.A. 2018, curated by Anne Ellegood and Erin Christovale, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Hog’s Curve, Halsey McKay Gallery, New York, NY
Alan Shields Project, Van Doren Waxter, New York, NY
 
2017
Sayonara Jupiter curated by Misako & Rosen together with XYZ Collective, 356 S. Mission Rd., Los Angeles, CA
Between Words and Silence: The Work of Translation, Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA
The Ecstasy of Mary Shelley, curated by Virginia Broersma, Nick Brown and Kio Griffith, LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions), Los Angeles, CA
 
2016
Protuberances, LA><ART, Los Angeles
Placebound, Woodbury University, Burbank, CA
A Modest Proposal, Hauser & Wirth, New York
Human After All, VCUarts, Richmond
impromptu, The Box, Los Angeles
 
2015
Group Exhibition: Guy Goodwin, Heather Guertin, Naotaka Hiro, Dave McDermott, Jason Meadows, Brennan & Griffin, New York
Alfred Jarry Archipelago: La Valse Des Pantins - Act II, La Ferme du Buisson Centre d'Art Contemporian, Paris
RSVP Los Angeles: The Project Series at Pomona, Pomona College Museum of Art, Claremont, CA
Mirror Effect, organized with Kate Costello & Liz Craft, The Box, Los Angeles
Half Empty: Dan Finsel, Naotaka Hiro, Mateo Tannatt, Brennan & Griffin, New York
Where The Sand Worm Slumbers, curated by Adam D. Miller and Devon Oder of The Pit, Charlie James, Los Angeles
 
2014
Is the art pretty? No, says Mummy. Pretty is not important. with James Buss, Beffhaus, Dallas
East Side to the West Side, The FLAG Art Foundation, New York
Men in LA: Three Generations of Drawings, The Box, Los Angeles
 
2011
PT. & PT. with Sid M. Duenas, High Desert Test Site, Joshua Tree
Object for the rc drone Living, Post, curated by Karen Lofgren, Los Angeles
Happy Mind My Pleasure – My View, Misako & Rosen, Tokyo
 
2010
SYMPATHETIC MAGIC: VIDEO MYTHS AND RITUALS, Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena
ATLAS OF GIFTED IDEAS, Henry Art Gallery, Seattle
 
2009
GEBA GEBA, Misako & Rosen, Tokyo
EXTRA EXTRA, China Art Objects Gallery, Los Angeles
 
2008
ARTIST AS PUBLISHER, The Center for Book Arts, New York
FIGURES, curated by William E. Jones, David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles
 
2007
TRUDI: No Jerks, curated by Catherine Taft and Matthew Chambers, RENTAL, New York
 
2006
Many Many Guys And Girls, All Real Beauties, Circus of Books Gallery, curated by Julian Hoeber, Los Angeles
AJA XX: API/2, curated by Kazuhiro Kosaka, JACCC, Los Angeles
Polysphäre, raumcommander, Berlin
Panic Our Older Brother, ALM Gallery, Munich
 
2004
Mañana Art Fes, Yutaka Sone Studio, Pasadena
 
2003
Prague Biennale1, National Gallery Veletrzni Palac Dukelskych, Prague
 
2002
Young Japanese Artists, LIMN Gallery, San Francisco
Landscape, Zero One Gallery, Los Angeles
 
2001
Hiropon Show, curated by Takashi Murakami, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo
New Romantic, Diannepruess Gallery, Chinatown, Los Angeles
 
2000
Artificial Real, LOW, Los Angeles
 
1998
Re-Lax, Gallery Krinzinger, curated by Paul McCarthy, Vienna
Ero Pop Christmas, curated by Takashi Murakami, Nadiff, Tokyo
 
1997
Doug Aitken, Alex Bag, Naotaka Hiro, Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo
Imprudent, Wight Gallery at University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles
 
 
Screenings

2018 
The Dialectic of the Stars, organized by FLAX Foundation, curated by Fabien Danesi, Los Angeles

2016
Raw, Reed College, Portland

2010
Milwaukee International: NO SOUL FOR SALE, Tate Modern, London
 
2009
I Found Myself an Innovator, curated by Rachel Cook/ Yuki Okumura, DiverseWorks, Houston Texas
The Young and Evil, REDCAT, curated by Stuart Comer
 
2008
Murder Pretened, Festival Internacional Cervantino, curated by Naotaka Hiro, Guanajuato
The Young and Evil, tank.tv, curated by Stuart Comer
Murder Pretended, Casa Vecina, curated by Naotaka Hiro, Mexico City, 2008Saison Video, “Physical”, “Portrait”, “ideal #10”,Roubaix, France
 
2007
Artwalk After Party 2007, LACMA MUSE, Los Angeles
 
2001
Inaugural Screening, c-level, Chinatown, Los Angeles
 
1998
Good-Bye, Eniwetok, Beyond Baroque, Los Angeles
 
1997
Carl’s Place 2, LACE, Los Angeles
Carl’s Place, Quon Bros., Los Angeles
 
 
Publications
Made in L.A. 2018, exhibition catalog, 2018
RSVP Los Angeles: The Project Series at Pomona, exhibition catalog, Essay by Glenn Phillips, 2015
Where the Sand Worm Slumbers, exhibition catalog, 2015
To and From, with Sid M. Dueñas, 2008
Corona Issue no.1, with Sid M. Dueñas, 2006
 
Awards and Grants
The Asian and Pacific Islander Artist Presenting Initiative (API/2), 2006 
The Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery Associates, The Eungie Joo/ REDCAT Award, 2004
Scholarship, California Institute of the Arts, 2000-2001
 
 
 
Feb 1 2019link

Naoaka Hiro in W Magazine

Jan 19 2017pdflink

Review: Naotaka Hiro

Frieze

by Eli Diner

Jan 15 2017pdflink

Review: The human cocoon: Naotaka Hiro's primal art, made from within

Los Angeles Times

by Leah Ollman

Jan 10 2017pdflink

Naotaka Hiro 'Peaking' at The Box

Art and Cake

by Shana Nys Dambrot

Jan 26 2017pdflink

Snap Review: The Ecstasy of Mary Shelley at LACE

Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles

Claire de Dobay Rifelj

January 26, 2017

Jan 12 2017pdflink

The Ecstasy of Mary Shelley

"The Ecstasy of Mary Shelley" at LACE featuring work by Naotaka Hiro

by Ezrha Jean Black

Artillery 

Dec 14 2016pdflink

Naotaka Hiro at The Box

Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles

by Claire de Dobay Rifelj

Oct 13 2016link

Artforum Critics' Picks: Protuberances

Protuberances

LAXART

September 17 - October 29, 2016

by Andy Campbell

Oct 20 2015pdflink

Interview: Frieze London artist, Naotaka Hiro

The Metropolist

by Rachel Holmes

October 19, 2015

Apr 4 2015pdf

Naotaka Hiro: My Body, The Unknown Me

By Rosana Albertini

read online here

Jun 18 2014

Men in LA mentioned in LA Weekly

Men in LA featured as one of LA Weekly's 5 Artsy Things To Do:

http://www.laweekly.com/publicspectacle/2014/06/18/5-artsy-things-to-do-in-la-this-week-including-mocas-controversial-loan

Jun 13 2014pdf

Men in LA: Three Generations of Drawings at The Box

Written by Matt Stromberg

The Daily Serving

 

Read the article online here: http://dailyserving.com/2014/06/men-in-la-three-generations-of-drawings-at-the-box/

Dec 6 2011link

Nada Much

by Michael Zelehoski

ArtSlant

Jun 1 2008pdflink

Bodyscapes

By Catherine Wagley
ArtSlant
1 June 2008

Apr 13 2019

Naotaka Hiro at Nonaka-Hill

Miho Dohi
Naotaka Hiro
Wataru Tominaga

April 13 – May 25, 2019
Reception: Saturday, April 13, 6 – 9 pm

details here

Jul 18 2018

Naotaka Hiro in Happy Mind - Natural High

Happy Mind - Natural High

Misako & Rosen

July 18 - August 26, 2018

 

Kaoru Arima / Cristina Tufiño / Naotaka Hiro / Lee Lozano / Stephen G Rhodes / Soshiro Matsubara

Feb 13 2018

Naotaka Hiro participating artist in Made in L.A.

Congratulations to Naotaka Hiro & the 31 other artists participating in The Hammer Museum’s fourth iteration of Made in L.A. 2018!

The exhibition will be on view June 3 - September 2, 2018. 

Jan 5 2018

Naotaka Hiro at Van Doren Waxter in New York

Alan Shields Project

January 5 - February 17, 2018

Lisa Alvarado, Cheryl Donegan, Aiko Hachisuka, Channing Hansen, Naotaka Hiro, Alan Shields, Martha Tuttle, B. Wurtz

more here. 

Jan 29 2017

Naotaka Hiro at Armory Center for the Arts

Naotaka Hiro is included in the upcoming group exhibition Between Words and Silence: The Work of Translation curated by Irene Tsatsos and Daniela Lieja at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena. 

Opening Reception Saturday, January 28, 7 - 9 PM. 

Exhibition on view January 29 - April 2, 2017. 

Jan 5 2017

Naotaka Hiro in 'The Ecstasy of Mary Shelley' at LACE

The Ecstasy of Mary Shelley

curated by Virginia Broersma, Nick Brown and Kio Griffith

January 5 - February 12, 2017

at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions

Sep 27 2016

Naotaka Hiro in PLACEBOUND at Nan Rae

Naotaka Hiro is featured in PLACEBOUND, a group exhibit curated by Bia Gayotto, on view at Woodbury University's Nan Rae Gallery. Details here

Sep 17 2016

Naotaka Hiro at LAXART

Naotaka Hiro is featured in the group exhibition Protuberances

Curated by Catherine Taft and Jess Arndt

September 17 - October 29, 2016

Jun 23 2016

Naotaka Hiro in 'A Modest Proposal' at Hauser & Wirth in NY

A Modest Proposal
Lucas Blalock, Naotaka Hiro, Sanya Kantarovsky, Nicola L, Tala Madani, and Jakub Julian Ziolkowski

June 23 - July 29, 2016
Opening: Thursday, June 23, 2016, 6-8pm

 

Hauser & Wirth New York, 18th Street

more here

that point from the (four) years, folks. As soon as you are fitwatch.biz tag heuer replica watches going to blow your brains out if you notice another election headline. Situations are finally creating any mind using the race, and it'll be over in no time. However, to help keep you chugging with the remaining real existence nightmare, we have got a bit of great franck muller replica watches for you personally on Market Watch(ing). Enjoy!
May 7 2016

Naotaka Hiro 'Big Question' at Brennan & Griffin

on view May 3 - June 5, 2016

details here

Nov 8 2015

Naotaka Hiro in group exhibition at Brennan & Griffin

on view November 8 - December 20, 2015

 

Guy Goodwin, Heather Guertin, Naotaka Hiro, Dave McDermott, Jason Meadows

Sep 8 2013

Naotaka Hiro Solo Exhibition at Brennan & Griffin, New York

For more information, please visit Brennan & Griffin's website.

Press Release:


NAOTAKA HIRO

September 8 - October 20, 2013

Pit & Log
 
Brennan & Griffin is pleased to present Pit & Log an exhibition of new works by Naotaka Hiro.  Throughout Hiro's practice, the artist's body has served as the foundation for his exploration of the unknown.  The artist's body parts, only viewable through a mediated form such as a mirror or camera, become the impetus for investigation.  In previous works, the skull, intestines, and anus have been transmuted in various process and performance-based sculpture and video works.  For this exhibition, the artist's skin becomes the subject of interrelated drawings, sculptures, and video.
 
In the video The Pit (Dancer with Golden Lips), (all works 2013), Hiro uses a latex cast of his head with a split through the face and a hole cut through the occiput. Worn as a mask with his gold-painted mouth fitting into the hole, the artist's lips move in an improvised sequence where the void within his mouth evokes the uncanny nature of a black hole.  Hiro's visceral performance combines an experience with stress-induced alopecia with the futakuchi-onna, a two-mouthed woman from Japanese folklore.  The artist manipulates his body, mask, and camera to create a composite image in order to merge the seen and unseen, human and synthetic.  
 
The Log is a bronze cast of half of the artist's body from left hand to right foot.  Here, the limitations of Hiro's reach serve as a topological map by which the artist records the "exploration" of a territorial path in attempting to replicate his body with his right hand.  While the bronze resembles a peeled or flattened skin, the process, time, and labor of its creation are imbued within the distortion and fragmentation of the finished work.  
 
Two Mouths, a latex, burlap, and steel sculpture, utilizes materials and props from The Pit (Dancer with Golden Lips), including the latex cast of Hiro's head, to create a loose, wraith-like form.  This shell or stand-in for the artist is illuminated through the ambient light of the video projection where the shadow image completes the figuration.  Groups of pencil and acrylic works on paper further illustrates the artist's process, serving as fragmented narratives and storyboards for his video and sculpture.  
 

Naotaka Hiro was born in Osaka, Japan and lives and works in Los Angeles.  He has previously mounted Solo Exhibitions at The Box, Los Angeles, Misako & Rosen and Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo, and has participated in Screenings and Group Exhibitions at The Tate Modern, London, Prague Biennial 1, Prague, and Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo among others.  This is Hiro's first Solo Exhibition with Brennan & Griffin.