Archive for November, 2004
November 30, 2004 at 22:54 · Filed under Photographer, Publication
Ichiro Kikuchi: Memory Holes, Tokyo 2002
First the design of the book attracted me with it’s hardcover made from pasteboard and a cut out on the cover. The book contains photographs from all over Japan (Hokkaido to Okinawa) taken 1992-2002. Ichiro Kikuchi’s photography is a kind of grainy colour photography with high contrasts and dark shadows which concentrates on unusual views of ordinary, common land/cityscapes.
I have never heard of the photographer and a short search with google did not help much.
Born 1973, he graduated in photography at the Osaka University of Arts and participated in the “People in the street” project (ningen no machi project). 1995 participation at “New Photographers on stage”, Konica Plaza gallery, Tokyo. 1997 exhibition “Personal Space” at Nikon Salon, Tokyo and Osaka. He is listed in the Database of the Guardian Garden Gallery a leading institution to promote young photographers in Japan.
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Recommended Book:
Ichiro Kikuchi: Memory Holes. Tokyo 2002
November 28, 2004 at 21:20 · Filed under Award, Photographer
I forgot this in my last post on Daido Moriyama:
Daido Moriyma received the Cultural Award of the German Photographic Society (DGPh) in Cologne on November 1. The award is the most important photography award in Germany and is presented every year.
The award winners include internationally renowned scientists, inventors, writers, publishers, editors, lecturers, art directors and, in particular, top photographers from Germany and abroad. Previous photographers who received the price are (to name a few): August Sander, Man Ray, Henri Cartier-Bresson, William Klein, Peter Keetman, David Hockney and Wim Wenders.
I had the pleasure to deliver the Keynote address on the artist. :-)
November 27, 2004 at 17:29 · Filed under Photographer, Publication
Izima Kaoru: UA wears Toga, 2003
This photo by Izima Kaoru could be seen all over Paris at the beginning of this month since it was used as the main image to advertise Paris Photo 2004, the most important fair for photography. The photo is from the “Landscape with a corpse” series and it shows the J-pop singer UA killed by an arrow.
Kaoru first published the first parts of this series under the title “Serial Murders of Actresses” in his own fashion magazine “Zyappu”.
“Each installment showed a few photos of a famous actress posed as a murdered corpse in various settings such as a river, beach, or park. A different actress (actors also) is featured each time. The murder victim is always wearing or using famous-brand fashion items. The photos are accompanied by a news article describing the scene of the imaginary murder and the victim.”
Zyappu magazine (1994-99) was unique among the Japanese fashion magazines since it was written completely in western letters. “Zyappu” actually refers to “Jap” a derogatory term for Japanese and Japanese-Americans and shows – like in his “Landscape with a corps” series – Izima’s interest to give something negative a positive notion:
“There can be beauty even in things not usually considered beautiful.” Can a corpse serve as a model for fashion photos? “Why not?” says Kaoru. Corpses are grotesque, but he says “They are beautiful.” Corpses are gross, but he says “They are sexy.” And he concludes, “Murder scenes are erotic.”
[all quotes by Philbert Ono]
Interestingly there seems to be a difference between the perception of the work of Izima Kaoru in Japan and in the west. In Japan Kaoru is highly regarded as a commercial fashion photographer working for magazines and television, while in the west he is perceived and discussed as an artist whose work is exhibited in galleries and museums regularly while his other work is completely unknown.
Izima Kaoru is working on his “Landscape with a corpse” series since 10 years now and I am curios to see what he will show after this longtime project.
PS: The CD “Ametora” by UA is one of my favorite J-pop CD’s.
November 25, 2004 at 22:26 · Filed under Exhibition, Photographer
Hiroshi Sugimoto: Mathematical Forms. Surfaces 0009
Unfortunately I missed the exhibition at Fondation Cartier (until Feb. 27, 2005) when I was in Paris recently, but it seems that Hiroshi Sugimoto is returning to his distinctive, extremely reduced conceptual and clear cut style. The catalogue to this complete new series is scheduled for December 10.
“My new body of work, Conceptual Forms, consists of two parts, Mathematical Forms and Mechanical Forms. Mathematical Forms is subdivided into Surfaces and
Curves.
Mathematical Forms are photographs of stereometric plaster models that were used to provide a visual understanding of complex trigonometric functions. They were made in Germany in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Mechanical Forms are photographs of mechanical models that were used to demonstrate basic movements of modern machines. They were made in England during the late 19th century.
These machines and models were created without any artistic intention. This is what motivated me to produce this series of photographs and title them Conceptual Forms. Art is possible without artistic intention and can be better without it.”
Hiroshi Sugimoto
November 24, 2004 at 19:11 · Filed under Photography Market, Publication
“Farwell Photography” by Daido Moriyama (Shashin yo Sayonara, 1972) is one of a dozen Japanese photography books (others are from Eikoh Hosoe, Jun Morinaga and Ikko Nakahara) being included in the upcoming auction “Photographic Literature” at Swann in New York, Dec. 7. The estimate for the book is 4.500 – 5.500 US$! This is above the price range I have seen in France recently. Even this book belongs undoubtly to the important photography books of the 20s century – more on Japanese photobooks and their current appraisal in a future post – I wonder what makes this book the second most expensive book in the auction behind a book by Robert Frank. We will see if the auction will confirm the high estimate…
Speaking of prices, during the extremely successful auction “Veronica’s Revenge” two weeks ago at Phillips, de Pury & Company, New York a “Seascape” by Hiroshi Sugimoto reached 27.600 US$ (estimate 10.000 – 15.000 US$).
Phillips, de Pury & Company New York, Veronica’s Revenge (Session 2), 11/9/2004
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