Tadaaki Kuwayama Reviewed in ARTnews

Tadaaki Kuwayama’s exhibition of chromatically rich and machine-finished works used a variety of strategies for presentation. Some objects were hung on the walls, while others were set on their edges along the floor.

The main display consisted of two partitioned installations: Untitled (1992/2012), featuring 22 red aluminum squares in shallow relief that extended across two adjacent walls, and Untitled (2012), eight rectangular titanium panels positioned vertically on the floor at alternating angles, which had the effect of disrupting their relationship with the long room in which they were installed. Although it is composed of sculptural material, the first piece occupies an ambiguous territory that seems to be more closely associated with painting. The thin substrates are emphasized by alternating open edges, and the squareness of each object is revealed to be the result of two conjoined rectangles. The work’s repetitive order recalls Donald Judd’s sculptural installations just as much as it does Blinky Palermo’s series of paintings.

The floor piece was the most compelling work in the exhibition, given its subtle departures from Minimalism. While there was a sense of continuity in having one freestanding panel installed after another, the skewed positioning of each titanium sheet was disruptive, subverting an expected rhythm. Furthermore, the titanium emitted a shifting gleam and shimmer so that, as viewers walked around the sculpture, the color of the metal appeared to transform from an iridescent bleached pink to a tarnished green. This magical alteration, while recalling the kind of interference paint commonly used on automobiles, created a sublime light and atmosphere.

– Greg Lindquist

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