Noritoshi Hirakawa: Vier Zwei Eins

Opening Reception, Thursday, April 10, 6 - 8 PM

Newman Popiashvili Gallery is pleased to present Noritoshi Hirakawa's video Vier zwei Eins (Four two One).

In the performance Vier zwei Eins (Four two One) Hirakawa deals with a social taboo: the subconscious desires between father and daughter. Beneath the surface of daily communication the story steps into a subconscious level as a dialogue of existential impact. The inner conflict of the leading actress is dramatically staged by the appearance of her "spirit" embodied by a masked and naked female dancer. By filtering the sexual intercourse between the leading actress and male actor with a camera, Hirakawa allows the audience to approach to the subject from a 'safe' distance. Gestures and facial expressions are accompanied with the improvisations of a female violinist. The psychological drama culminates into Shakespearian dimensions when the desire beyond the common sense of society bonds father and daughter to each other as a tragic, unconscious destiny. Their desperate trials to find an adequate quantity of their desire, clarifies the difficulty of human existence.

Vier zwei Eins was first performed in Cologne at Galerie Baukunst in 2006.

Noritoshi Hirakawa is a New York based Japanese artist. He has recently exhibited at the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, India; Kunsthalle St Gallen, Switzerland; Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main in Germany and had a performance at Salon 94 in New York in 2005.

Noritoshi Hirakawa
Vier Zwei Eins