Contraction and Removal
Arai Midori x Ayuko Takahashi
at Hiro Okamoto Gallery
Curated by Souya Handa

October 8 - 22, 2023
Open Hours: 11am - 7pm

Venue: Hiro Okamoto Gallery

More Details: https://www.hirookamoto.jp/events/contractionandremoval 

Contraction and Removal

In May of this year, I returned to my hometown of Hiroshima to curate an exhibition I had envisioned. While taking a walk on Miyajima for a change of pace, I received a call from a friend, Midori Arai. Arai, who holds a strong awareness of gender issues, and I occasionally engaged in light debates. Arai, known for her abstract art, is now embarking on a new artistic journey aligned with feminism. The purpose of the call was to offer me to participate as a curator in her upcoming exhibition. Thus, I became part of Arai's exciting new venture.

During our discussions on the exhibition planning, the name Ayuko Takahashi came up, as an artist Arai hoped to exhibit alongside. Takahashi had garnered attention for her solo exhibition, exploring lookism and fashion motifs, and was someone Arai knew personally. The prospect of these two artists collaborating intrigued us, as we thought it could result in a captivating exhibition. Thus, this duo exhibition started.

The foundation of Midori Arai and Ayuko Takahashi's duo exhibition, "Contraction and Removal," centers around a specific period in which bodily organs—namely, the uterus—undergo contraction, removal, and associated bleeding.
The uterus is biologically endowed with the capability to bear children and has historically been associated with the female gender.

Gender discrimination permeates every aspect of society, from daily life to the workplace. Social systems have been predominantly designed based on the characteristics of a "male body." Crucially, issues such as menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, and the anxieties linked to them remain insufficiently addressed, posing risks that can disrupt one's career and life plans. Arai, as a member of this society, has chosen to focus on a specific 72-hour timeframe in this exhibition. This period begins at the moment of sexual intercourse, coinciding with the peak effectiveness of a morning-after pill, and represents a time when bodies with uteruses are continually exposed to anxiety.
Moreover, the arrival of menstruation signifies both relief at confirming the absence of pregnancy and the onset of physical discomfort, which can lead to friction within society—a dual experience that Arai delves into through her artworks.
In Japan, there are still institutional and economic hurdles to accessing common contraceptive methods, including low-dose birth control pills, IUD, and subdermal implants. Through her art, Arai raises the question of when individuals with uteruses will be able to assert their bodily autonomy.

Takahashi, known for her works centered around lookism, embodiment, and fashion, shifts her focus in this exhibition to "relationships among women." When the uterus was chosen as the focal point for this exhibition, Takahashi decided to utilize the "moon" motif, which was also used by Raicho Hiratsuka to symbolize the contemporary state of women. If we were to overlay each person's life onto the moon, the waxing and waning would not synchronize, sometimes resonating and sometimes diverging. What Takahashi portrays in this exhibition is the shifting relationships among people brought about by the misalignment of these phases—changes in life stages that extend beyond mere shifts in daily routines or environments.

Education, employment, marriage, childbirth—each individual's values can diverge at these pivotal moments, leading to friction among "women." Takahashi says this as the "misalignment of life layers" and presents it as "something that exists in reality" through embroidery, paintings, and clocks with irregular rhythms.
The red color employed in Takahashi's works, featured in this exhibition, can be interpreted as a metaphor for menstruation, as well as the blood seeping from wounds caused by friction and conflict.

This exhibition was conceived through discussions involving two artists who identify as women and a curator who identifies as a man. The challenges encountered by individuals with uteruses and how these can be communicated to society—this exhibition, serving as a form of communication itself, is poised to serve as a starting point for addressing these questions.

Souya Handa