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Eiko Otake explores time, place in exhibit

BY KELLY HAYES kelly.hayes@gazette.com

Explore the most recent works of internationally acclaimed artist Eiko Otake as she debuts her longest exhibition to date at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center.

The six-month-long exhibition “I Invited Myself, vol. II” will open Friday, showcasing Otake’s experimental work with film, photography

and movement. This will be Otake’s first solo museum exhibition.

“I find that when I go to the museum I like to feel, not just show,” she said. “I think we have lots of work in the piece, but I’ve been very mindful not to make it too busy.”

Otake, who has taught at Colorado College since 2011, will introduce the exhibit with a live performance Friday evening and will be in the gallery Saturday and Sunday to meet and speak with guests.

Opening festivities will extend into next Thursday and Friday, including a film screening of “No Rule is Our Rule” by Otake and Beijing-based choreographer Wen Hui, as well as another live performance and a public discussion.

Otake’s artistic career spans five decades, most of which was spent as part of the internationally recognized performance duo Eiko and Koma. In 2014, Otake embarked on a solo career, giving her the chance to work with new artists.

“I kind of felt like, ‘Oh, I want to do something new,’ so I started my solo career,” said Otake, 70. “It’s pretty exciting for me to start that at my later age.”

The three-room installation will highlight Otake’s video work from the last few years. As the viewer wanders through the galleries, so does Otake’s body move across locations and time.

“I like to move, expanding the motion of the dance outside of humanity,” she said.

In the exhibition, she visits the urban landscapes of Tokyo and New York and the vast countryside of California and Wyoming, as well as the post-nuclear city of Fukushima.

“The most recent pieces are very much about my body in different places,” Otake said. “People can see me in a different time, but it’s the same me.”

Embodying the idea of movement, the exhibition will change with the seasons — winter, spring and summer. The seasonal shifts were inspired by Otake’s mother, who would traditionally change hanging scrolls with each season.

“I just don’t want to open the show, and it just sits there for six months,” Otake said.

“I’ll change quite a number of the works according to the season, so that’s a little different from the normal exhibition.”

Each change will be celebrated with a weekend of performances and discussions, set for early April and July.

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2023-02-03T08:00:00.0000000Z

2023-02-03T08:00:00.0000000Z

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The Gazette, Colorado Springs