February 2007                                                                                   

Yuriko Yamaguchi: "Web/Seeds and Bones"
March 3 – April 14, 2007

Reception for the Artist: Saturday, March 3, 2007 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Friday: 10:00am - 5:30pm, Saturday: 11:00am - 5:30pm
Public Contact: 310-836-9055

Koplin Del Rio Gallery is pleased to announce our fifth exhibition of the sculptural installations of Yuriko Yamaguchi.

Web/Seeds and Bones is an installation of two different series by the artist. The combined result creates a transcendent three-dimensional environment that references spirituality, organic shapes, textures and anatomy as well as, artifacts of information technology and communication.
Yamaguchi's latest series, Seeds, in the continuing body of work, Web, references a virtual ecosystem comprised of thousands of pigmented cast resin seeds, discarded computer chips and various found objects that hang from the gallery ceiling by hidden filament lines. Associated with natural forms such as pupae, silkworm cocoons, or falling water drops, the seeds swarm in a cluster above our heads, serenely suggesting a spiritual power or place of ceremony. Through the use of synthetic materials, the installation is also referencing the duality of modern existence in a world where the natural environment is increasingly encroached upon by technology and industry. Yamaguchi is exploring patterns of connection that exist between humans, the environment and the earthly desires that keep us entangled in the web of life

The Bones series in the exhibition is comprised of multiple references as well. Using tree branches found in nature the artist casts them in resin, creating translucent bone like shapes that are connected to one another and suspended from the ceiling. The bones are porous in appearance to make a commentary on the artists own mortality and the quality of a bone that is beginning to break down and decay. In addition to the organic references the artist has embedded subtle messages on each bone. The messages are taken from simple phrases commonly used in email correspondence and text messages, ever becoming the standard form of human communication. As human beings become more dependent on technology and less reverent of the natural world, the lines between the virtual and the real become blurred creating a surreal coexistence of nature and artificiality.

Born in Osaka, Japan, Yamaguchi moved to the United States in the early seventies. She received her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. After studying at Princeton University, she was awarded her M.F.A. at the University of Maryland, College Park. Yuriko Yamaguchi's work has previously been shown at the Fowler Museum in UCLA, The American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York; The Los Angeles County Art Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; Kanagawa Museum of Modern Art in Japan; the Smithsonian American Art Museum as well as other venues. She is the recipient of the American Academy of Arts and Letters award in 2006, the Joan Mitchell Foundation award in 2005 and many other awards.