- Dates
- —
- Curated by
- Hélène Kelmachter
Tomoko Sawada
Identities
Extravagant clothing styles or the desire to possess luxury items are expressions of young Japanese people’s search for identity, shaped by new standards, models and reference points. Contemporary Japanese artists reflect this trend through self-portraits or by playing with photographic imagery.
Tomoko Sawada (Kobe, 1977) appears in group photographs or individual photo booth portraits. Each of her series serves to express a critique of Japanese society. She challenges the format of the traditional school group photo by repeating her own face, raising the issue of how individuality is expressed beneath the uniform worn by Japanese students. In the Omiai series, she once again uses her own portrait, this time portraying Japanese girls ‘seeking marriage’ to comment on arranged marriages, which are still practised in Japan. In these cases, the parents of the prospective bride commission a photographer to produce an album in which the girl is shown dressed in various styles, with the aim of attracting a potential suitor.
For her exhibition at Espai 13, Tomoko Sawada has created a new series exploring the relationship between young Japanese people and fashion. In the alleyways of Harajuku and Shibuya, Tokyo’s youth compete in extravagance and originality. Their neo-Gothic or fluorescent-coloured outfits, brightly dyed faux furs and platform shoes create astonishing looks that speak volumes about the search for identity. Tomoko Sawada has chosen to focus on a particularly popular trend among girls and unique to Japan: the GothLoli movement. This Gothic Lolita fashion also frequently appears in manga and anime. Layered lace petticoats, lace-up boots, black leather or vinyl corsets, and hair styled in ringlets define this eye-catching look. Born in 1998, the trend gained widespread popularity in the early 2000s with the emergence of various brands devoted to the style. One of the most well-known, Baby the Stars Shine, has lent its collection to Tomoko Sawada for this new photographic series created especially for Espai 13 at the Fundació Miró.
Exhibition organised in collaboration with MEM Gallery, Osaka, with support from Baby the Stars Shine.
Éditions Akaaka will publish a book on the new series, presented here for the first time in Espai 13.
