Yuken Teruya

Golden Arch Parkway McDonald's (Red Yellow)

2005

Yuken Teruya is a Japanese born New York based artist who creates artworks based on memories of his homeland Okinawa. His creations reflect on the untouched nature of his island, which he recreates in his paper bags’ constellations and paper forest series. Teruya uses discarded shopping bags from the main retails brands of frenetic Manhattan, as well as Dollar bills, Monopoly bills, toilet paper rolls and McDonald’s bags. The fascination toward nature -that has been present since the origins of Mankind- is expressed here through the use of discarded material, and this controversial choice creates a poetic yet twisted dynamic within the artworks. His work has been shown in several solo and group exhibitions worldwide, notably one-man shows include Josee Bienvenu Gallery, New York; Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica; Dahlem Ethnological Museum/Asian Art Museum, Berlin; Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London; and The Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo. Teruya participated to many important group exhibitions such as Paper at Saatchi Gallery, London (2013); the 18th Biennale of Sydney (2012); Ties over Time: Japanese Artists and America at the US Ambassador’s House, Tokyo (2010); Hundred Stories about Love at 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan (2009); The Shapes of Space at the Solomon Guggenheim, New York (2007); Greater New York 2005 at MOMA P.S.1, Queens, NY. Teruya’s work is present in some of the most renown collections such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Guggenheim, New York; Flag Art Foundation, New York; the Smithsonian American Art Museum Washington, D.C.; the Charles Saatchi Collection, London; 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan; the Mori Art Museum, Japan; Hoffman Collection, Berlin and the Museum für Asiatische Kunst, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin.