New JPN GEN, the new Japanese generation. How do Europeans view Japanese photography? The Artligue gallery hoped to answer this question with its new exhibition. Curator Marc Feustel showcases the work of seven photographers representative of the prolific Japanese scene.
Kenji Hirasawa studied environmental information, where he became familiar with communication techniques emerging in the post-internet era. Now an artist, he uses electromagnetic waves, infrared light and microwaves in his work. He shoots portraits with a thermal camera, which envelops his subjects with blue and yellow halos and covers them in pixels.
Taisuke Koyama works with detail, material, textures, colors. For several years the photographer has focused his attention on rainbows, foggy surfaces and walls with cracked paint, producing abstract tableaux with vibrant colors.
Koji Onaka came to photography through Daido Moriyama’s book Tales of Tono. An outstanding practitioner of black-and-white photography, Onaka’s 2003 book Slow Boat, which earned him international recognition, collects his leisurely wanderings through urban Japan, a far cry from the images of hectic life and crowded streets.
Seiji Shibuya work could be called contemplative. Although his work lacks an explicit, unifying theme, all of his photographs are shot through with lightness, the silence of a stretch of water, its imperturbable reflection and the rustling of leaves on summer fruit trees and the play of their light and shadows.
How can one photograph a modern architectural icon like the Ronchamp cathedral? Ryo Suzuki offers a poetic and original vision of the work of master architects Le Corbusier and Peter Zumthor. The image serves as a formal echo to their art, demonstrating Suzuki’s deep and intuitive knowledge of their creations.
Over the course of four years, Yu Yamauchi photographed Mount Fuji at sunrise from the same angle six hundred different times. The space changes every morning in shape and color, ranging from minimalist to baroque.
Daisuke Yokota photographs and samples images. He sees an echo between the music of Aphex Twin and his own work, which also features repetitions, reverbations and slow passages. In the series Site, he continues, digitally, what he began in his previous series, Back Yard. He photographs the same location from multiple angles. No action is visible, but time is encapsulated within the image.
New JPN GEN ou la nouvelle génération japonaise
From November 14th to December 28th, 2013
ArtLigue
9 rue des Arquebusiers
75003 Paris
France
Tuesday – Friday 2pm-7pm and Saturday 1pm – 7pm
