Works

Yuriko Terazaki, Chetham's Library #1, 2024 Photo: Keizo Kioku

Yuriko Terazaki | Every step we take, each story we unfold

Saturday, August 24 – Friday, September 27, 2024

12:00–7:00 pm

*Closed on Sundays, Mondays, and National Holidays

[Preview & Reception: Friday, August 23, 5:00–7:00 pm]

Gallery Koyanagi is pleased to announce “Every step we take, each story we unfold”, a solo show by Yuriko Terazaki will be held from Saturday, August 24 to Friday, September 27, 2024. This will be her sixth show with us since the “Arks for Learning” show in 2017 and will feature new works depicting historic libraries and cathedral staircase.

Terazaki has been depicting objects created by human hands that have stood the test of time: staircase as once a symbol of civilization and power, musical instruments as the most beautiful creation for ears and for eyes, and books where all of the above, our whole stories are held and preserved within.

By applying layers of strokes of pencil, Terazaki also wished to depict the time that has passed and accumulated upon the objects, with the unseen and silent yet insistent presence of countless people who came across them. Traces of their footsteps, their whiff and caress of their hands.

In this exhibition, she will present works depicting Chetham’s Library and Wells Cathedral in the United Kingdom.

Chetham's Library, the oldest surviving public library in the English-speaking world and the first independent study in the north of England, was founded in Manchester in 1653. It was established under the will of Humphrey Chetham (1580-1653) a successful textile merchant, banker and landowner, for every scholar without any other requirements and has been in continuous use as a free public library over 350 years.

The Wells Cathedral Library established in the 1450s, still holds books in chains. It was built over the East Cloister following instructions in the will of Bishop Bubwith (1355-1424) as the largest medieval library in England at the time and is one of only four such chained libraries in the country.

In early years when she had staircase for her first theme in her mind, Terazaki learned of the cathedral's long masonry staircase from architectural photographer Frederick Henry Evans' A Sea of Steps (1903). Since then, she has always hoped to view the staircase with her own eyes and climb its stone steps to see if she can make it an art work of her own. Her wish was fulfilled when she was given a grant to travel to the UK in 2019 and thus this artwork was produced.

In Evans' work, the undulating masonry staircase in the light-filled cathedral is shown in delicate shading and captured from an angle that allows the viewer to see all the way to the door at the back of the building.

Terazaki's Wells Cathedral Staircase (2020) is seen from the same angle but the staircase is submerged in darkness, and it is not clear where it leads or where it is leading us. All that can be seen are the traces of people's paths, each step taken by countless individuals over hundreds of years.

A preview of the exhibition and reception will be held on Friday, August 23, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., the day before the opening day of the exhibition.

We are planning to invite Dr. Koichi Yukishima, professor emeritus at Waseda University, to give a gallery talk at 6:00 p.m. We look forward to seeing you there.

We are also planning to hold a talk event with Mr. Yoshitaka Haba, book director and president of BACH Ltd on Saturday, September 21, from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m.

We hope you will enjoy the event as well.

Talk event 1: Koichi Yukishima x Yuriko Terazaki *event ended

“Libraries in the U.K. / Wells Cathedral Library and Chetham’s Library”

Dates: Friday, August 23, 2024, 6:00–6:30 pm

Talk event 2: Yoshitaka Haba x Yuriko Terazaki *event ended

Dates: Saturday, September 21, 2024, 4:00–5:00 pm

Please inquire at mail@gallerykoyanagi.com for seat reservations.

*Talk event 1 and 2 will be conducted in Japanese only.