Experience this two-part solo exhibition of media works by internationally acclaimed movement artist Eiko Otake (b. 1952, Tokyo). Celebrated as both a collaborative and solo artist, including 42 years performing as Eiko & Koma, Eiko Otake, now in her early 70s, is exploring how to create a time and space for viewers to see her body, movement, and concepts of her project that she has undertaken through video and photography without the necessity of her live presence.
This presentation will feature Eiko Otake’s collaborative works created with artists such as John Killacky, DonChristian Jones, and Merián Soto, among others, through projections and video sculptures installed in the museum’s first floor gallery. Part of Eiko’s Duet project, an evolving series of experiments and collaborations that negotiate differences of race, age, culture, ethnicity, religion, discipline, and gender, each project seeks to maximize the potential of the encounter. Eiko states:
“Working with others, pushing beyond our norms, is densely performative. I think better with effortful conversations. Two artists getting to know each other on a deeper level feels radical, but doable. Once that happens, we cannot go back to our prior selves.”
Each volume of I Invited Myself includes exhibitions, screenings, and public conversations along with performative interventions and installations.
Co-presented by Asian Arts Initiative (AAI) and The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM), I Invited Myself, vol. III is a two-part exhibition in Philadelphia. Part One, I Invited Myself, vol. III: A Body at AAI (on view September 9–December 9, 2023) features Eiko’s lone body moving within different landscapes and absorbing what they hold. Part Two, I Invited Myself, vol. III: Duets at FWM (on view November 9, 2023–March 24, 2024) highlights her collaborative projects with artists of different races, identities, cultures, disciplines, and ages.