Having studied fashion and graphic design in Japan, Yuriko Takagi was working in Europe as a fashion designer when, on one of many trips to Morocco, she became fascinated with the medium of photography.
Like the simultaneous existence of two different worlds, which the title Parallel World suggests, this exhibition comprises two different series shown in parallel in the Nijo-jo Castle Ninomaru Palace Daidokoro Kitchen and Okiyodokoro Kitchen. One focuses on Takagi’s project ‘Threads of Beauty,’ for which she traveled to twelve countries, photographing people who wear traditional clothes as part of their daily lives. The other series is dedicated to high-end fashion created between the 1980s and today, with clothes by designers such as Paul Smith, Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, and John Galliano, as well as new work shot for Dior.
In Iran, Takagi met people from nomadic tribes who possessed only the few precious clothes they were able to carry. Whenever they migrated, they wore all the clothing they owned, in layers.
For Dior, Takagi photographed haute couture items, bringing out the exceptional beauty of these clothes that exist thanks to the serious skill and craftsmanship of the manufacturers and the sincere passion of the clients who order them. Even though high-end fashion may seem to exist in a completely different universe than the traditional clothes worn by the nomadic people, her photographs reveal a love and affection that is common to both.
Featuring original prints, oversized digital prints, works colored by the artist, and works printed on photographic paper, washi, cotton paper, plaster, and other materials, this exhibition explores the depth and diversity of photographic expression.
“I believe that fashion and photography help people dream,” says Takagi. Visitors to Parallel World traverse freely between two different worlds of fashion. As the boundaries between the two slowly begin to disappear, they make way for fundamental questions that usually stay hidden away in daily life: What are clothes? What is photography? And what is happiness?
高木:展覧会の題名は「PARALLEL WORLD」です。パラレルワールドは、同時多発的に存在する二つの世界のことを指します。今回の場合は一つはファッション写真の世界、もう一つは、民族衣装を日常的に着ている人たちの世界です。会場となる二条城の台所・御清所では、ポール・スミスを初めイッセイ・ミヤケ、ヨウジヤマモト、ジョン・ガリアーノ、現在東京都現代美術館で会期中の「クリスチャン・ディオール、夢のクチュリエ」展のために撮り下ろした写真と、日常的に民族衣装を着ている人達を撮影したプロジェクト「Thread of Beauty」が展示される予定です。
高木:十数カ国だと思います。約6年間で、総計700点くらいの洋服を持って地球中をウロウロしていました。その時は、世界各地の方々に、私が持って行った服を着ていただいて撮影することが目的で、彼らが元々着ていた服は一切撮影しませんでした。ところが、ある時、親しい友人に「世界中の民族衣装を着る人々が減少しているからあなたが今記録すべきだ」と言われて、ハッとしました。確かに、冠婚葬祭以外で民族衣装を着る人々は近年急激に減っています。また、旅をしていて、同じ場所に行っても、前の年は民族衣装を着ていたのに、次の年に行くと既にジーンズとTシャツに変わってしまっている光景に愕然としました。そこで、民族衣装を着る人々を12カ国で撮影したプロジェクトが「Threads of Beauty」です。
Born in Tokyo, Yuriko Takagi studied graphic design at Musashino Art University and fashion design at Trent Polytechnic in Nottingham, UK. In her photographic work, she adopts a unique perspective to capture facets of the human existance through clothes and the human body. In her ongoing project chaoscosmos, she follows her deep interest in the mysteries of the natural world and explores new creative approaches and media, including video. Based in Japan, she has filmed across Asia, Africa, South America, and the Middle East.