SANTANDER.- From 28 March – 6 September 2026, Centro Botín presents “Entanglements”, a solo exhibition by Japanese artist Yuko Mohri, whose work explores the transformative potential of everyday objects and natural elements and their ability to generate visual and sonic shifts. Through ephemeral assemblages and interconnected systems, she draws attention to fundamental environmental and social issues.

Yuko Mohri (Kanagawa, Japan, 1980; lives and works in Tokyo) is known for her intricate and original compositions and was recently selected to represent Japan at the 60th Venice Biennale (2024). Inspired by Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) and Alexander Calder (1898–1976), Mohri creates site-specific kinetic sculptures that incorporate found items, as well as reworked musical instruments connected to electronic circuits. Her work responds to imperceptible, transient, and ephemeral phenomena, such as gravity, magnetism, heat, and humidity. Random and unstable environmental elements—such as air, dust, debris, and temperature—shape her assemblages, transforming them into organic ecosystems where the sound component is central.

Mohri pursued an interdisciplinary course of study in fine arts at the Tokyo University of the Arts and her work has stood out from the very beginning for its connection to sound and music. During her college years, she was part of a punk band called “Sisforsound,” which had a profound influence on her artistic approach. Perceiving the boundaries between the visual and acoustic worlds as blurred, Mohri often disassembles and reassembles musical instruments and electronic objects to create her artworks. Influenced by the Fluxus movement of the 1960s and experimental music, she also draws on the work of John Cage (1912–1992) creating a blend of visual arts and research music that offers new perspectives and ways to interact with the world around us.

At Centro Botín, Yuko Mohri presents works ranging from the mid-2000s to her most recent projects, which she continuously updates and develops by modifying them over time and adapting them to the spaces in which they are installed. As the artist explains, “I have a picture of my installation like an organic space, twisted and braided through the keywords ‘error,’ ‘improvisation’ and ‘feedback.” Mohri has a sophisticated ability to make worlds often regarded as niche—such as experimental music and contemporary art—more accessible by incorporating familiar everyday items, like kitchen utensils and washing gloves, while adopting a playful approach that resonates with the audience. Through the materials she employs, Mohri introduces subtle irony and a nearly hidden ludic dimension, drawing on cultural references, including those from philosophy to pop culture, as well as iconographic and sonic influences ranging from kinetic art to sound experimentation.

“Entanglements” is Yuko Mohri’s most extensive solo exhibition to date at a European institution. The title evokes the invisible links and complex interactions that exist between objects, forces, sounds, and people. The show explores how each element belongs to an interconnected system in which nothing acts independently, and everything is part of a vast, ever-evolving network of relationships. Mohri’s delicately balanced sculptures reveal the latent complexity of the natural and artificial structures that constitute our world and the constant flow of energy surrounding us.

The exhibition at Centro Botín features a core selection of works drawn from various bodies of the artist’s oeuvre which are reconfigured to respond to the unique conditions of the exhibition space. As Mohri explains, “I make my work in an improvised way. I don’t depict a vision of a whole sculpture from the beginning. I always want to value the inspiration I got from the place and the encounter with it”. Mohri creates a unified visual and sonic environment through the unpredictable programming of the featured works, providing visitors with a collective kinetic and acoustic experience. Centro Botín’s presentation expands the previous presentation at Pirelli HangarBicocca by including a new body of paintings created on-site in Santander. Using stretched speaker fabric as a canvas, the paintings visually evoke the sound and movement of her installations.

Each installation is guided by an element that functions as a driving force, triggering and activating a particular dynamic circuit. In Flutter (2018), for instance, the focal point is an aquarium containing sensors that capture light and shadow naturally created by the movement of fish and water plants. These motions in turn stimulate other elements of the interdependent system. This piece is influenced by John Cage’s sound experiments, including Water Walk (1952) and Variation VII (1966), as well as Video Fish (1975) by Nam June Paik (1932–2006).

Drawing inspiration from her musical work, Mohri created Piano Solo: Belle-Île (2021–24), in which the central element is a modified piano programmed to play “on its own”. This piece originated during the pandemic, when the artist, accustomed to collaborating with musicians, found herself unable to do so. Mohri recalls retreating to a forest and experiencing a moment of reconnection with nature in which she recorded its ambient sounds: birdsong, the rustling of a stream, and wind moving through the leaves. Nature itself becomes a performer, as these tracks are converted into inputs for the self-playing piano, which translates them into a musical composition. Drawing on the figurative tradition—the title refers to Belle-Île, where Claude Monet (1840–1926) created his first series of paintings —Mohri projected a video of the location, near the edge of the cliff and collected the sound in the same environment where Belle-Île, Rain Effect (1886) was made. For Mohri’s presentation at Centro Botín, the artist has filmed different locations of the coastline of Santander and recorded the sound of these environments, bringing the natural surrounds into the work. The concept resonates with Erik Satie’s (1866–1925) idea of furniture music, in which sounds functions as part of the environment, like furniture, rather than requiring active listening, thus challenging the conventions of concert music and the notions of the musical work as a central aesthetic object.

One particularly significant work is You Locked Me Up in a Grave, You Owe Me at Least the Peace of a Grave (2018), an immersive experience combining sound, light, and movement to create a hypnotic choreography. The central element is a suspended, rotating spiral staircase, that introduces a sculptural yet dynamic aspect, evoking the astronomical and sociological phenomenon of a planet spinning on its axis. Surrounding the staircase are four speakers that distort and amplify the sound like megaphones, causing it to reverberate throughout the space. The sound is generated by strings vibrated by two electric-bows (E-bows), producing a range of harmonics. A computerised system orchestrates this sequence, controlling the rhythmic flow of sound and light. The title quotes words spoken by the French revolutionary Louis-Auguste Blanqui (1805–1881) during an interview in prison with art critic Gustave Geffroy. At the time, Blanqui was writing Eternity According to the Stars (1872), a philosophical work that later shocked the German philosopher Walter Benjamin (1892–1940). The peculiar cosmology, written by an old revolutionary in prison at the end of his life, focused on circularity, an idea that also lies at the heart of Mohri’s practice. Within this environment, air and vibration, sound and rotation, revolution and the yearning for a new society coexist with cosmic movement in a single unified image.

The exhibition also includes the celebrated Decomposition series (2021–ongoing), which was presented in the Japan Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale, alongside the earlier Moré Moré (Leaky): Variations (2018–ongoing). The first group of works focuses on organic decay, transforming this process into a living system of sound and light. Decomposing fruit is connected to electronic devices via electrodes, and as it rots and loses water, it generates electricity that activates sound compositions and controls the light dimming. These vary according to the level of decay and hydration, providing audible and visible signals of the work’s mutable nature. The title plays on the opposite of decomposition—“composition”—a term central to the artist’s research and a key concept in music. Amplifiers, speakers, and vintage furniture complete the installation, evoking the atmosphere of Renaissance still life paintings and reflecting the artist’s background in figurative art.

In contrast, Moré Moré (Leaky): Variations (2018–ongoing), originally began as a photographic series depicting makeshift solutions adopted by the station staff of the Tokyo subway to cover water leaks. Inspired by the improvised methods she observed in the Japanese urban context, the artist created kinetic works with household items such as umbrellas, pots, and pans, and reworked them, following her fascination with DIY. Mohri thus develops artificial water leaks using a pump and an elaborate system to capture and recycle water falling from the ceiling. The artist reinterprets the concept of a circuit as an interconnected system of invisible forces linking objects together.

Finally, I/O (2011–ongoing) refers to the terms “input” and “output” and represents an organic ecosystem whose movement and form are determined by the conditions of Centro Botín’s exhibition space, introducing an element of randomness to the work. Rolls of paper suspended from the ceiling gently touch the ground, collecting dust and debris. A scanner reads this material and converts it into electrical signals that activate light bulbs, tools, and instruments. The concept of a musical score is conveyed through the environmental traces left on paper, which produce unpredictable reactions when “played”.

The exhibition is accompanied by an English and Spanish edition of the most comprehensive monograph to date on Yuko Mohri’s practice, developed by Pirelli HangarBicocca and edited by Fiammetta Griccioli and Vicente Todolí. The volume features essays by international art critics and scholars who have closely followed Mohri’s career. It includes an overview of her work by art critic Ryo Sawayama; an essay by curator Martin Clark; a contribution by curator Diego Sileo and a text by the editors providing deeper insight into the exhibition project. A selection of Mohri’s own writings offers a personal perspective on her relationship with sound, environment and the interconnectedness of all things. Moreover, a unique glossary developed specifically for this publication explores key themes in Mohri’s work and offers a new interpretive tool for understanding her evolving artistic language. The catalog includes a Japanese Shōjo manga by Ran Kurumi illustrating Mohri’s artistic journey.

As part of Fundación Botín´s Artistic Support programme, each major exhibition at Centro Botín is connected to an Art Workshop organised by Fundación Botín and led by the exhibiting artist for a group of selected artists and creative practitioners. These immersive, residency-style sessions foster a communal environment for sharing, thinking, writing, and creating under the guidance of the host artist. Over 2026, Yuko will direct a Fundación Botín Art Workshop, encouraging a group of national and international participants selected via an open call to engage in collaboration and creative exchange.

Yuko Mohri’s works have been exhibited at many leading institutions, including Pirelli HangarBicocca , Milan (2025), the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA), Seoul (2025); Artizon Museum, Tokyo (2024–25); Aranya Art Center, Hebei (2024); Atelier Nord, Oslo (2021); Japan House São Paulo (2021); Ginza Sony Park, Tokyo (2020); Camden Arts Centre London (2018); Towada Art Center, Aomori (2018– 19); National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto (2018); Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (2012).

The artist represented Japan at the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024. She has also participated in numerous group exhibitions, including the Gwangju Biennale (2023); Biennale of Sydney (2022); Asian Art Biennial, Taichung (2021); Bienal de São Paulo (2021); Glasgow international (2021); Tai Kwun Contemporary, Hong Kong (2021); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2018); Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane (2018); Centre Pompidou-Metz (2017); Biennale de Lyon (2017); Kochi- Muziris Biennale (2016); Yokohama Triennale, Kanagawa, 2014).