Anime film featured in the Harn's International Contemporary Art exhibition

March 29, 2007

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Harn Museum of Art exhibition “International Contemporary Art from the Harn Museum Collection” on display in the Cofrin Pavilion includes an area devoted to works on film that will be changed approximately every three months. The newest film being exhibited, “Ladybirds’ Requiem,” was done by Akino Kondoh, who is part of vibrant young generation working in the realms area of anime, manga and technology. The film, which she created between 2005 and 2006, will be on view through July 15, while the exhibition closes Oct. 14.

“Anime” is the Japanese term for animation and “manga” refers to Japanese adult comic books that are characterized by fluid compositions, highly stylized art and adult themes. In “Ladybirds’ Requiem,” Kondoh evokes the intangible memories and fantasies of childhood through the dreamlike interaction between ladybirds and a young girl named “Eiko,” who appears in all of Kondoh’s works as the idealized figure of a young woman.

Born in 1980 in Japan’s Chiba Prefecture, Kondoh went on to graduate in 2003 from Tama Art University and her work has since been exhibited in several international venues. She has received several prestigious awards for her work, including being the jury recommended work in the Manga Division at the seventh Japan Media Arts Festival held in 2003.

“International Contemporary Art from the Harn Museum Collection” demonstrates that art produced across cultures is richly diverse despite globalism. Featured are more than 30 artists who span the continents of Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa and Asia working in painting, sculpture, drawing, prints, photography, installation and video from 1945 to the present. Other Japanese artists included in “International Contemporary Art from the Harn Museum Collection” are Yayoi Kusama, Jun Kaneko and Hiroshi Sugimoto.

“International Contemporary Art from the Harn Museum Collection,” curated by Kerry Oliver-Smith, is the second exhibition in the Harn’s Cofrin Pavilion, which includes the 7,600-square-foot gallery devoted to international contemporary art along with the Camellia Court Café and Goforth Learning Center. The Cofrin Pavilion opened in October 2005.

“International Contemporary Art from the Harn Museum Collection” is made possible by Christie’s with additional support from the Sidney Knight Endowment.

Admission to the Harn Museum of Art is free. For more information, call 352-392-9826 or visit www.harn.ufl.edu.