Milk on the Edge
May 5th - June 10th, 2017
Opening Reception-May 5th, Friday, 6pm-8pm

hpgrp GALLERY NEW YORK is pleased to announce the first solo exhibition in the U.S. by Japanese artist duo exonemo. Internationally recognized, their work has been featured at institutions including the New Museum, Nam June Paik Art Center, the National Art Museum of China, and Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo.

Formed by Yae Akaiwa & Kensuke Sembo, exonemo began releasing their artworks on the internet in 1996. From 2000 onward they expanded their activities into physical spaces, in the form of installations, performances, public interventions, and mixed media art. In hpgrp they will present new works that employ framed LCD screens alongside Body Paint (2014), an ongoing video series featuring hand painted monitors. “Milk on The Edge” expounds exonemo’s interest in the limits and possibilities of corporeality and identity in today’s information society, particularly investigating the way information devices create frames that alter perceptions of the world.

Initially focused on programming-based software art in the 90s, their transition into physical works include Natural Process (2004), a large acrylic painting of Google’s top page (later acquired by Google), and The Road Movie (2006), a mobile installation that incorporated origami paper folding, webcams, a bus, and GPS technology. The Road Movie was notably awarded Ars Electronica’s highest award, the Golden Nica for its innovation in art and technology. In 2012, exonemo established a secret society on the internet known as IDPW and created the Internet Yami-ichi (Black Market), an internet inspired flea market for goods and services at the cusp of virtuality and actuality. Reaching an international audience, exonemo has led Yami-Ichis in over 14 cities around the world, traveling to New York, Tokyo, London, and Seoul. In 2015, exonemo moved to New York through an artist grant by the Agency for Cultural Affair, Government of Japan, since then they have joined New Inc. an incubator for art, design, and technology led by New Museum.

Artist Statement:
“On the edge!” Said the landlord as she spat out the milk.
Two years ago, right after when we moved from Japan to New York, we bought some milk. It tasted different from what we were used to, but we thought maybe that's just the way things are here. Then we asked our landlord to see what she thought.
In crossing the national borders, from Japan to New York, even the borderlines between “fresh and rotten” ––– something we should have instinctively sensed ––– became confused. What unreliable interfaces our bodies are! Today, constantly connected to the world via technology, our bodies are expanding their borders, and trying to touch the world beyond the frames provided. The boundary territories just beyond the screens, and vague new borders are marked by the spray of foul milk.