Nobuko Tsuchiya "once upon a time, in a distant place there was a parking fish project"

Born in Japan in 1972, Nobuko Tsuchiya is a young and upcoming artist who works in London, where she has lived since 2000, and who burst onto the international art scene to critical acclaim from around the world. Her first major exhibition was at the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003.

Tsuchiya's illusive and indescribable works had an intense impact in Europe and the U.S., where logic is normally paramount. Frustrated at their inability to grasp the meaning of Tsuchiya's works, Europeans and Americans were nevertheless fascinated by the strong presence that her creations emanate, and saw their mysteriousness as the very source of their complex and delicate appeal.

Underscoring the level of interest they attracted, her works have been snatched up by world-famous collectors and exhibited at venues like the Saatchi Gallery, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, and La Maison Rouge.

Tsuchiya creates her works by freely assembling familiar objects and scrap materials. When handled by the artist, these take on an entirely different look and role from their original purpose. Her works can have the appearance of experiments still in progress, or old, broken down robots that call up a mysterious nostalgia and familiarity, appealing to memories and senses shared universally by all people.

Tsuchiya does not provide any clarification of the meaning or intent of her creations. Although her works always hint at the existence of some special story, as clearly indicated by the title of this exhibition, "once upon a time, in a distant place there was a parking fish project," they trap our thoughts within riddles that have no answers.

"What are the fish?" "Where do they park?" Questions raised by the title and by the works exhibited still linger after viewing this exhibition, but rather than seeking a single answer from the artist, it is more enjoyable for each observer to communicate with the works and discover his or her own narrative, and possibly even enter a place of the imagination that transcends whatever is in the artist's mind.

Nobuko Tsuchiya's Japan debut fills the Bathhouse gallery with fifteen or so new sculptures, both large and small. The individual sculptures play off each other, arranged in a configuration that creates the impression of one large installation. This fascinating exhibition provides the first opportunity in Japan to gain a comprehensive view of the work of this internationally active artist.