Shai Ohayon

Natalie Clark Shai Ohayon

"Into the Curve" is an exhibition catalogue for the British-American artist's Natalie Clark exhibition at The Container, Tokyo, 10 September-26 November, 2018. It is the 16th catalogue in a series published by the gallery to archive and promote artists in Japan and abroad. The catalogue showcases writings by the gallery director, Shai Ohayon, as well as notes by the artist. The publication features works by the artist and explores the development of a site-specific installation, fabricated using upholstery techniques. The sculptural installation presents Clark's interest and engagement with womanhood and women's empowerment, and seeks to create awareness and discourse about women rights in general, and Japan in particular, following the cold reception the #MeToo movement received in Japan. Natalie Jane Clark is a British-American classically-trained artist, designer and educator. Her current practice is split between studios in the American West and Barcelona, Spain, and includes original sculptures, art consulting, curation, and design. Clark obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts, majoring in sculpture, from Brighton University in England. She came to the United States on a full-merit scholarship, and attained her Masters in Fine Arts from the Art Institute of Chicago. She followed her formal training with an Artist-in-Industry Residency at the Kohler factory in Wisconsin and has taught at university level in Texas and Wyoming. Clark's 9/11 Memorial submission was a finalist in the design competition and has been exhibited in New York. Her works are in both private and public collections within the USA, Canada, and Europe. The Container is a contemporary exhibition space in Nakameguro, Tokyo. The space opened in March 2011 to create a site that encourages people to engage with art installations and works, where the emphasis is on curation and the accessibility of contemporary art and ideas to the general public. As the name suggests, the physical space is no more than a constructed shipping container (485x180x177cm), made to measurements of old Japanese shipping containers, housed inside Bross hair salon, in one of Tokyo's most loved and trendy neighbourhoods. The Container invites Japanese and international artists to make site-specifc installations four times a year. Each installation remains on view to the public for two-and-a- half months. Since 2013, The Container also started to publish full-colour, bilingual (Jap/Eng) exhibition catalogues, available online and at the gallery. The space receives extensive international coverage, including ArtAsiaPacific, Artforum, Hyperallergic, Glass Magazine, Art & Antiques Magazine, Dazed & Confused, Blouin Artinfo, Art-iT, Bijutsu-Techo/BT, CNN, NHK, Tokyo Art Beat, The Japan Times, and The Sunday Times, travel guides and in-flight magazines, to mention only a few. www.the-container.com