Motohiko Odani
Born in 1972 in Kyoto. He lives in Tokyo.
"Rompers" is a video work whose setting is a television programme in the near future, the purpose of which is to stimulate the libido of infants. If one watches closely, one can see the strange-looking girl stick out her tongue from time to time and gobble up insects while singing a pop song. One of the themes of Odani's work is girls of which there is uncertainty both sexually and in terms of their age.
In "Solange" (2003), the petals of lilies made from epoxy resin are pulled open with piano wire, exposing their stamens and pistils. The symbolism of lilies is turned on its head in this work, which calls to mind what some see as the perverse taste which lies at the heart of such arts as ikebana and bonsai.
"ERECTRO (Clara)" (2004) is a sculpture of a woman wearing a leg brace dragging herself across the floor. The name Clara is borrowed from an infirm and wheelchair-bound character in the Japanese anime series "Heidi, Girl of the Alps". Perhaps one can read into this a statement of protest against sculpture, which has traditionally been expressed as something standing ‘erect' in defiance of gravity.
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