We are pleased to announce ‘Love Machine’, a solo exhibition by Tamura Satoru, which will be our first exhibition of the new year. Tamura has long been shocking, amusing, and evoking laughter among audiences all over the world. The theme of his new year exhibition is ‘love’ and will run from the 17th of January until Valentine’s Day 2014.

We will exhibit several pieces from Tamura’s ‘Machine Series’ which have the theme of ‘love’ especially for this exhibition. The main piece will be Tamura’s ‘Ai Machine’, which was exhibited at the Aichi Art Triennale 2013. The character 愛 means ‘love’ and is pronounced ‘ai’, therefore the ‘Ai Machine’ represents ‘love’ but also the ‘Ai’ in ‘Aichi Prefecture’.

We will exhibit several of Tamura’s ‘machines’, including the ‘Ai Machine’, ‘Love Machine’ and several ‘Heart Machines’. Tamura creates a pure white concept while destroying meaning. The title is exactly what it is. The absence of meaning is the concept of his work. The motor inside keeps it moving constantly. The mechanical nature of the work destroys any meaning we may associate with the shapes in which they move. There is no intended meaning behind these shapes. They just move. They are just machines.

The theme of ‘love’ stands in contrast to the machines, which are strong, cold, and mechanical objects. As the gears and greasy chains rotate, the sound of the rotation and the scent of the grease create an atmosphere that appeals to the senses. The final day of the exhibition will be Valentine’s Day, a day of celebration for couples, however, we invite and welcome everyone to this exhibition. We want to show love to a world which at times can feel so void of it. Love is a machine that we want to move continuously. Join us in celebrating love in the new year at Tezukayama Gallery.

During our exhibition at Tezukayama Gallery, Tamura’s ‘Osaka Machine’ (which was part of Osaka Canvas in 2011) will be exhibited in a purpose-built space near ‘Osaka Creative Centre’ (a former shipyard of Namura). Chishima Real Estate has kindly offered to permanently exhibit ‘Osaka Machine’ in this space and we would like to offer our thanks to them for their co-operation and support.