Makoto Taniguchi 谷口真人

Makoto Taniguchi was born in Tokyo in 1982 and completed studies in Intermedia Art at the Graduate School of Fine Arts at Tokyo University of the Arts. Taniguchi’ s works are based on the imagery of girls in Japan as they appear as characters in comics and anime, and as heartthrobs and idols. These images of girls, passed down steadily to Taniguchi since his youth in the 1980s, are acknowledged as a common, general occurrence within contemporary Japanese society. Despite the repeated cultivation of these images as encoded forms whose origins are found in currency circulation and consumption, they evoke within the viewer the feeling of a vivid, living presence. Taniguchi reiterates a dialogue with this imagery, continuing the discussion in terms of the relationship between real existence born out of “strong feelings” and “emotional involvement” , and the act of painting.

Taniguchi’ s paintings, using acrylic sheets and mirrors, are some of his strongest works, bringing the efforts of his studies to fruition. The two images, one reflected in the mirror and one painted on the acrylic sheet, express the distance the artist senses between the cognitive experience and that which exists. We are unable to make out the image of the girl reflected in the mirror from straight on. Further, that image would cease to exist without the deformed image in front of it, which seems to be melting away. Coming face to face with this piece, we realize that we can never get any closer to the girl that lives in the world of the mirror. At the same time, however, we also realize that as a dialogue with the viewer the girl in the mirror will exist for eternity. Like a fleeting yet endless journey, lyrical and sweet, the artist repeatedly questions the eternal.

谷真人於 1982 年生於東京，畢業於東京藝術大學美術研究所主修跨媒體藝術。谷口真人的作品是關於動漫角色和偶像呈現的日本少女圖像。這些少女的圖像在日本八十年代的當代社會中非常普遍流行，谷口 的少年時期亦逐漸受其影響。雖然這種少女圖像在消費的循環中重複被應用成了既定形象，但觀者仍對其引發如真人般的遐想。 谷口反覆研究這種少女圖像，持續地探討繪畫行為和因圖像真實存在所產生的「沉迷感覺」與「情緒涉入」之間的關係。

谷口以壓克力板和鏡子創作的繪畫是反映他研究成果的優秀之作。分別繪畫在壓克力板上和鏡中反射的兩個圖像表達了藝術家的 認知經驗和實際體驗之間的差距。反映在鏡中的少女圖像難以從正面觀看，它的正面圖像已像溶化般變形。當觀看這作品時，我 們會意識到無法更接近在鏡子世界裡的少女，但同時觀者與鏡中少女的交流將永遠存在，就像無盡卻霍然的旅途，藝術家不斷婉 約細問關於永恆的命題。

Previous Exhibitions