ASAKUSA is delighted to announce Metahaven 's first solo exhibition in Japan, titled Holding the Storm, opening on Friday, December 22, 2023.

Metahaven is an artist collective formed in 2007 in Amsterdam, by graphic designers Vinca Kruk (b.1980 in Leiden) and Daniel van der Velden (b. 1971 in Rotterdam). Since its foundation, the collective has been engaged in the fields of art, design, literature, cinema, and fashion, with a focus on graphic design within evolving digital technologies. Metahaven's critical attitude and philosophical inquiries set them apart as a unique entity. Their commentary on geopolitical and media representation through filmmaking and design not only challenges the boundaries of aesthetic language, but also gives rise to poetic and metaphysical questions—interwoven with a diverse array of texts and images from science fiction, animation, and children's books.

The exhibition showcases Metahaven's new work series Holding the Storm (2023), commissioned by ASAKUSA, and the video installation Chaos Theory (2021), which explores the intricacies of linguistic expression for the real and imaginary beings from the perspective of caring for and about children. The exhibition also features the related textile series Arrows (2020), Blossoms (2021), Secrets (2021), Swans (2023) and Bus Seats (2023).

Metahaven is founded by Vinca Kruk, (b. 1980) and Daniel van der Velden (b. 1971) in Amsterdam in2007. The work of this artist collective Metahaven encompasses filmmaking, writing, and design. Their films include Capture (2022), Chaos Theory (2021), Hometown (2018), Information Skies (2016)—nominated for the European Film Awards 2017—and The Sprawl (Propaganda about Propaganda)(2015). Recent publications include a book-length essay about cinema titled Digital Tarkovsky (2018). In 2010, Metahaven published Uncorporate Identity, which they wrote and edited with Marina Vishmidt. Metahaven has presented solo exhibitions at MoMA PS1, New York, ICA, London, State of Concept Athens, Mumbai Art Room, and Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, among others. Group exhibitions at Artists Space New York, the Museum of Modern Art Warsaw, M HKA, Antwerp, the Gwangju Biennale, the Sharjah Biennial, Ghost:2561, Bangkok, and many others. Their work is featured in collections of the Sharjah Art Foundation, the National Gallery of Victoria, M HKA, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, among others. They have been nominated at several film festivals, including IFFR (Tiger Awards, Bright Future, FIPRESCI Prize) and CPH:DOX. They were awarded the Cobra Art Prize Amstelveen in 2013. Metahaven are department heads of the Geo-Design MA programme at Design Academy Eindhoven, artistic advisors at Rijksakademie, Amsterdam, and affiliate researchers with Antikythera, Los Angeles.