Ayakamay is an American-born Japanese artist ‘exploring the interrelationship between photography and performance’
American-born Japanese artist Ayakamay came to London this month to perform at Hoxton’s Red Gallery. “I’m a street performer,” she told us – so we went outside to stand on the pavement and ask her about her culture, her identity and her work.
Red Gallery, Hoxton, London 15 October 2015
Interview by MK PALOMAR Film by MARTIN KENNEDY
Ayakamay at the Red Gallery, Hoxton, London, 15 October 2015. Photograph: Martin Kennedy.Ayakamay. IDOL WORSHIP, 2014. Digital video. Framed digital performance (limited edition), dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist.Ayakamay. IDOL WORSHIP, 2014. Digital performance installation. Courtesy of the artist.Ayakamay. Unconscious Education #006, 2015.「我々は無意識な教育に則り、背の順に列びます」Obeying our unconscious education, we line up according to our height. Fine art inkjet on silver rag fibre paper, 30.5 x 41.5 x 2 in, edition of 7. Courtesy of the artist.Ayakamay. Unconscious Education #001, 2014.「我々は無意識な教育に則り、正々堂々と戦うことを誓います」Following our unconscious education, we vow to fight fair and square. Mixed media on silver rag fibre paper, 16 x 24 in. Courtesy of the artist.Ayakamay. Mimikaki, 2014. Performance at Le 116 Center for Contemporary Art, East Paris, France. Courtesy of the artist.Ayakamay. Mimikaki, 2013. Street performance in Shinjyuku, Tokyo, Japan. Courtesy of the artist.Ayakamay. Mimikaki mural with Core246 & Kaes, 2015. Red Gallery, Shoreditch, London, UK. Courtesy of the artist.
This show’s ambition to address testing times feels muted by a restrospective feel and with the exception of a few works, notably by Shiraz Bayjoo and Precious Okoyomon, there is little that is challenging or innovative
In Upson’s work, the domestic is explored not just as a built structure, but as the space where the human psyche is formed, moulded like her silicone casts
This book, which McCullin has said will be his last, documents his work across three campaigns in Vietnam, including images that have never before been seen publicly
Frequently working more as a sociologist than an artist, the interrogative French artist explores human behaviour, from the banal to the profound. Her work can make you laugh but it can also make you cry