Ecology: Dialogue on Circulations - La Vita Nuova by Jaeeun Choi | Ginza Maison Hermès Forum

The Fondation d‘entreprise Hermès is pleased to present “Ecology: Dialogue on Circulations,” two exhibitions that examine ecological practices in art.

Efforts to address global climate change and other pressing ecological crises confronting humanity raise questions about how to balance ecological, economic, social and political demands. How can these issues be explored through art, today and in the future? Le Forum frames the concept of ecology as a state of circulating energy in a broad sense, introducing artists who consider fleeting human lives and things adrift within the global environment from the perspective of our relationship with nature.
Dialogue 1
“La Vita Nuova” by Jaeeun Choi
This solo exhibition looks back on the 40-year career of Jaeeun Choi (born 1953 in Seoul, South Korea), and the artist’s continuous dialogue with ecology and nature. Choi first encountered ikebana when she moved to Japan in 1976, and worked as an assistant under Hiroshi Teshigahara, the third-generation master of the Sogetsu school of ikebana. She has continued to produce artworks since 1980.

Weaving together old and new works, this exhibition introduces Choi’s art as a process of reconstructing the ideal of coexistence with nature while she grapples with ecosystems essential to life. Her works sound the alarm for our emergency while remaining quietly poetic, as she seeks hope through the ideal of coexistence with nature in the space between life’s potential for violence and beauty.