2021
"innerspace" mikami toshiki Solo exhibition
V e n u e：Gallery noivoi
Address：107-1 Yayoigaoka, Tempaku-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi 468-0062
D a t e ：2021.7.13 tue - 7.25 sun
h o u r s ：11:00-18:00
Closed ：7.19 mon
2021
"Point to point to line" Komaki Art Project Group exhibition
V e n u e：Komaki City Central Library
Address：1-234 Central, Komaki City, Aichi Prefecture 485-0029
D a t e ：2021.7.22 thu/holiday - 8.1 sun
h o u r s ：10:00-19:00
Closed ：7.26 mon , 7/29 thu
Organizer：Komaki Civic Cultural Foundation
Cosponsored：Komaki City , Komaki City Board of Education
「The 3rd Open Call Art House Oyabe Contemporary Art Exhibition」
Winning
V e n u e：ART HOUSE OYABE
Address：10 Washigashima, Oyabe City, Toyama Prefecture 932-0821
D a t e ：2021.4.29 sat - 5.23 sun
h o u r s ：10:00-17:00(Last admission16:30)
Closed ：Wednesday and 5/6(thu) ※Open on May 5th (Wednesday / holiday)
Admission fees：General 300 yen (240 yen for 20 people or more)
65 years old and over 200 yen
Opening・Awards ceremony、Gallery talk／4月17日(土)10:00~
concert／5/16(sun)14:00Start
2020
”One of my points, the original scenery that connects” 1st term
Oribe-tei 35th Anniversary Project
V e n u e："Oribe-tei"Gallery
Address：1-11-19 Shimasaki, Ichinomiya City, Aichi,JAPAN ZIP 491 0834
D a t e ：2020.2.29 sat - 2020.3.22 sun
h o u r s ：11:00 - 16:00
Closed ：Tuesday
2019
"Breathing body " Solo exhibition
V e n u e："MARUEIDO JAPAN" Gallery
Address ：Ark Hills Front Tower 1F,2-23-1, Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo ,JAPAN ZIP 107 0052
D a t e ：2019.9.17 tue - 10.11 fri
h o u r s ：11:00 - 18:00
Closed ：Sunday Monday Public Holiday
Mikami Toshiki - A Lesson in Involuntary Movements
Junichi Shiota（Art Critic）
There are by no means a lot of artists who use balloons in the field of contemporary art as their medium. If we consider Gutai
artists (a radical post-war artistic group in Japan), Andy Warhol, Sho Kazakura, and even Martin Creedʼ s activities in recent
years in the UK, they have all left behind unforgettable artwork with balloons.
A balloon is something that swells up, which fills up a space by blowing air into it. Or, taking the example of Creed, each
balloon can be small, but they accumulate, they begin to form a dense mass, and become an artwork that produces unexpected
effects by having visitors move within them. It is no exaggeration to say that artworks which exhibit strong environmental
elements, extemporaneity, and physical properties have expanded the framework of art.
Mikami Toshiki is also an artist who uses balloons as his main medium. A distinctive characteristic of his artwork is that he
doesnʼ t just blow up balloons with a blowing machine and then leave them as they are, a few seconds after they have temporarily
swelled up they then deflate and wither away. It is like the breathing of a living creature as it were, Mikamiʼ s balloons repeat this
expansion and constriction, and it gives the appearance of a changing state as if it were alive. (In fact, he has included in the title
of some of his works the word ʻbreathingʼ ) Nevertheless, while this movement is repeated over a certain period of time, it is
actually quite unsteady, it is awkward, and sometimes it is funny. This movement, which is regulated and controlled mechanically,
varies to a large extent, evokes the phrase ʻinvoluntary musclesʼ , which refers to muscles that move independently to human will.
Naturally with improvements in technological precision and the artistʼ s continuing work on material research these
movements, and also the visual performance of his artwork, have become a lot more natural than before. An example of this is the
use of a control base known as arduino plastic which converts the material of the balloon from an enamel one to polyvinyl
chloride. Even if you look at the photos that are scheduled to be released for this solo exhibition you can recognize that there has
been remarkable progress in the shapes the balloons form, in his combination of colors, the balance between the space and the
work, and more.
However, this doesnʼ t mean that the artist is aiming to achieve this kind of aesthetic perfection, what is notable is more rather
how he is placed into the space an expression of the pulse of organic life. This is not some kind of quest for scientific knowledge;
it is something which belongs to the realm of imagination. The cells which shape our own bodies. Mikami is visualizing this
micro-level phenomenon of creation, death, and rebirth through a chain of countless red balloons, and the movement of countless
yellow protrusions that stick out from the balloonʼ s spindle-shaped state. This is something you have to try seeing to understand
to what extent it is showing strange movements.
Mikamiʼ s experimental work, including his three dimensional art and paintings which are also being exhibited at the same time,
form a lesson in giving new shape to organisms. Seeing it may lead you to both unexpected involuntary movements and new
discoveries. It is definitely worth seeing.
2018
"Is there a texture" Group exhibition
V e n u e：”Sumikaikan” designed by Kenzo Tange 5 venues in Ichinomiya City, Aichi Prefecture
Address：11-1 Minamikutan, Konobunakashima, Ichinomiya City, Aichi,JAPAN ZIP 464 0007
D a t e ：2018.1.20 sat - 2.12 mon
h o u r s ：10:00 - 17:00
Closed ：Monday
Organizer：Aichi Triennale Regional Development Project Executive Committee Secretariat , Ichinomiya City Board of Education
