Link to Description of Each Artwork

Souya Handa Projects is pleased to present artist Layla Yamamoto's solo exhibition "After the Quake" as its first project since its establishment. Born in Tokyo in 1995, Yamamoto studied abroad in the United States during her time at Tokyo Metropolitan Senior High School of the Arts, and later pursued her education at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, one of the world's top art universities. This exhibition marks Yamamoto's first solo exhibition in Japan after returning from the United States.

In the heart of contemporary art in America, Yamamoto learned what "art" means on an international standard. It involves constantly questioning "what is your identity" and expressing "how do you perceive society." In her "After the Quake" series showcased in this exhibition, Yamamoto sets out to explore her own identity, namely "what is Japan" and "what is contemporary Japanese society." Within Yamamoto, there exist two images of Japan. One is the "image of Japan seen from within," influenced by Eastern and Japanese culture such as the teachings of Confucius and the game of Go, which she has been exposed to since childhood. The other is the "image of Japan seen from outside," shaped by her education in the United States during high school and college, where she interacted with people from various countries, including Americans. By intersecting these two perspectives, Yamamoto endeavors to answer the question of "what is contemporary Japanese society."

Yamamoto begins by grasping Japan's society through the lens of the "image of Japan seen from outside." When viewing Japan from a foreign perspective, particularly from America, the image of Japan as the "tragic country struck by the earthquake and tsunami" and the "pitiful defeated nation that experienced atomic bombings" emerges. This image intertwines with Yamamoto's perception of Japan from within, sensing that "Japanese society has undergone significant changes since the earthquake." And from there, when arriving at the viewpoint that "Japan's 'post-war' began with the atomic bombings, ended with the earthquake, and entered a new social situation," the presence of the United States, Yamamoto's second home, which dropped atomic bombs on Japan and strengthened alliances in the post-war era, becomes faintly visible.

This exhibition starts from the imagery of the earthquake, which can be seen as a starting point of contemporary Japanese society, and progresses towards the imagery of the atomic bombings, which can be seen as a starting point of the Japan-U.S. relationship. As we reach the ten-year mark since the earthquake, with the conclusion of the Tokyo Olympics and the upcoming Osaka Expo, modern-day Japan is more than just a revival of the post-war era. By reevaluating Japan's post-war era, we may uncover the path that the present-day Japanese society, no longer in the post-war era, should take "After the Quake."

LAYLA YAMAMOTO: AFTER THE QUAKE

Curated by Souya Handa

Venue: Fukushima Bldg. 1F, 1-5-3, Nihombashi-Muromachi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo ( https://goo.gl/maps/ )

Dates and Hours: 18 - 30 Dec. 2021, 15:00 - 20:00

Entry Fee: 500Yen (Free for Under 18s)

Produced by Souya Handa Projects

Installer: Meta Flower, Ichika Kashiwagi, Sosuke Ueta

Special Thanks: Mitsui Fudosan, ASITY(Ryo Yoshioka, Yukihiro Dasuze, Tomohiro Kurita, Yoshinori Koyama) 

Supported by Arts for the Future! program of the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan

LAYLA YAMAMOTO: AFTER THE QUAKE Online Conversation (In Japanese)

21 Dec. 2021, 20:15- https://youtu.be/Y4I4tihyS-M 

Layla Yamamoto

Yamamoto was born in 1995 in Tokyo. She spent her formative years studying in the United States, from high school through college. This unique background allows her to explore the concept of "what is Japan" from the perspective of a Japanese woman with an understanding of American culture. Notable among her works are the "After the Quake" series showcased in this exhibition, which delves into the aftermath of a natural disaster, and the thought-provoking "Pregnant's Autonomy" series, shedding light on the challenges faced by women during pregnancy and childbirth.

Yamamoto graduated from Tokyo Metropolitan Senior High School of the Arts with a major in Japanese painting in 2014. Yamamoto enrolled in The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2015.

Selected Exhibitions:
HOMETOWN TOKYO | BANGKOK BIENNIAL 2021（same gallery／Tokyo／2021)
New New New Normal（GALLERY MoMo Projects／Tokyo／2020）
Multi-Cultural Appropriation（Kawaguchi Reaction／Saitama／2019）
Noisy Kids show curated by Katerina Yewell（Altspace／New York／2016）
On the VERGE（RHE Siragusa Gallery／Chicago／2016）
Draw on Raw Exhibition（Lemoart Gallery／Berlin／2016）

Prize:
Art Bash 2016
School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Distinguished merit scholarship（2015-2019）

Speaker:
PEACE DAY2020