Tòquio, 1949.
Ken Matsubara
Ken Matsubara graduated from Musashino Art University in Tokyo in 1974. His work often examines our understanding of memory. Matsubara lives and works in Tokyo.
Through photographs, films, objects, and collages, Matsubara’s work addresses memories and stories that we can all relate to, regardless of our background, status, or age. He incorporates photography, video, object installations, and collages to bring the past to the surface and engage in dialogue with future generations. The artist views human consciousness as memories of the same ancient knowledge that transcends the individual, transmitted across generations and peoples on a microcosmic level. By recalling shared memories, Matsubara believes we can transcend individuality.
His work is held in various international collections such as the Newport Harbour Art Museum (Newport, California), the Maison du Livre de l’Image et du Son and the Bibliothèque de Villeurbanne (Lyon), the Bayly Art Museum (Virginia), the Museum of Fine Arts (Houston, Texas), Bell Atlantic Corporation (New York), Reader’s Digest (New York), Goldman Sachs Corporation (New York), Nippon Polaroid / Polaroid Corporation of Japan (Tokyo), the International Polaroid Collection (Cambridge, Massachusetts), the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum (Tokyo), and the Deutsche Bank Collection / Bulgari Collection (New York), among others.
Work in the collection: "Moon Bowl"
http://www.kenmatsubara.com
Moon Bowl, 2016.
Moon Bowl, much like hands holding water, serves as a vessel of acceptance, where images sink into the depths of the basin like memories. As the water reflects the moon’s ever-changing presence, one comes to accept its fragile state as the beauty of impermanence and to discover future hopes as restoration. The Bodhisattva statue, the plaster figurine, the glass bottle, the corpse of a bird will crumble, only to be restored once again in a continuous state of repetition.
Houjyoki:
The flowing river never stops, and yet the water never remains the same. Foam floats on the pools, disperses, forms again—it never stops. So it is with human beings and all their dwelling places here on earth.