大野公士 「Deus sive Natura -生と死の境界領域-」

Venue：ICHION CONTEMPORARY

9-7 Nozaki-cho, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka 530-0055

Exhibition Period：2026.2.3 Tue. - 2.28 Sat.

Open：11:00‒18:00 (Last entry at 17:30) ※Closes at 17:00 on the final day

Closed : Sundays, Mondays, and Public Holidays

Admission：Free

URL：https://ichion-contemporary.com

Since completing the Master’s program in Sculpture at Tama Art University in 1996, Koji Ono has continued to create works for nearly three decades with reflections on life and death and the nature of existence as the central axis of his artistic practice. In recent years, his activities have expanded beyond Japan, with production and exhibitions taking place internationally, particularly in Europe and North America.

A consistent conceptual foundation of his work is the exploration of the relationship between life and death and the nature of existence in the world. This inquiry spans diverse intellectual traditions, ranging from Eastern philosophies such as Indian and Buddhist thought to Western existential philosophy rooted in Greek philosophy, as well as modern physics including quantum theory. These investigations are expressed through diverse spatial practices: sculptural works carved to extreme hollowness from wood, large-scale outdoor sculptures made from discarded materials, and installations composed of silk threads individually knotted and illuminated with ultraviolet light.

The title of this exhibition, “Deus sive Natura,” is Latin for “God or Nature,” a concept famously articulated by the early modern Dutch philosopher Baruch de Spinoza.

In the twenty-first century, armed conflicts between states—once thought unlikely within the framework of contemporary international politics—have again become reality, evoking memories of the Second World War. In this exhibition, Ono poses the question of whether a world in which violent forms of “life” and “death” coexist can truly be understood as “God or Nature.” Through spatially expressing the boundary between the realms of the living and the dead, he constructs a site-specific, circulatory installation that occupies the entire six-story architectural space of ICHION CONTEMPORARY, designed by Tadao Ando.

Marking an important milestone in Ono’s artistic career, this exhibition develops from Spinoza’s concept of “God or Nature” and presents the results of the artist’s long-standing exploration of life, death, and existence. Visitors are warmly invited to experience this body of work firsthand.