Woods III Inscriptions and Excavations

Shigeo Toya, Japan b.1947 / Woods III 1991-92 / Wood, ashes and synthetic polymer paint / 30 pieces:220 x 30 x 30cm (each, irreg., approx.);220 x 530 x 430cm (installed) / The Kenneth and Yasuko Myer Collection of Contemporary Asian Art. Purchased 1994 with funds from The Myer Foundation and Michael Sidney Myer through the QAG Foundation and with the assistance of the International Exhibitions Program / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Shigeo Toya

Shigeo Toya, Japan b.1947 / Woods III 1991-92 / Wood, ashes and synthetic polymer paint / 30 pieces:220 x 30 x 30cm (each, irreg., approx.);220 x 530 x 430cm (installed) / The Kenneth and Yasuko Myer Collection of Contemporary Asian Art. Purchased 1994 with funds from The Myer Foundation and Michael Sidney Myer through the QAG Foundation and with the assistance of the International Exhibitions Program / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Shigeo Toya / View full image

When

2 Mar 2024 – 27 Jan 2025

Where

Queensland Art Gallery & Gallery 14

About

Among the most memorable contributions to the inaugural Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in 1993, Shigeo Toya’s Woods III 1991-92 became one of the first large-scale installations to enter the Gallery's collection. Consisting of 30 squared off tree trunks elaborately carved with a chainsaw and arranged in an open grid, the work is celebrated for its formal beauty as well as its poetic and philosophical allusions.

This presentation seeks to draw out ideas of inscription and excavation in Toya’s practice by placing Woods III in dialogue with contemporary Japanese art. Including works by Lee Ufan, Tokihiro Sato, Yoko Asakai and Yuta Nakamura, it focuses on Toya’s approach to mark-making and giving form to the invisible as they relate to creativity, time, and the natural and constructed world.