Ukiyo-e Projection #3-19, 2003
© Eikoh Hosoe
|
"To me photography can be simultaneously both a record and a 'mirror' or 'window' of self-expression. The camera is generally assumed to be unable to depict that which is not visible to the eye. And yet the photographer who wields it well can depict what lies unseen in his memory."
--Eikoh Hosoe
During the postwar era, Eikoh Hosoe played a key role in the creation of new graphic style that emerged as a reaction against the realist documentary tradition prevalent in Japanese photography at the time. Hosoe's landmark series include Man and Woman, 1959, Ordeal by Roses (1961-1962), Kamaitachi (1965-1968), and Embrace, 1971. |
These series demonstrate the rich and diverse style of Hosoe's photography in combining an extremely personal view with radical narrative commentary on sexuality, culture, mortality, and memory. Hosoe set forth “Iconoclasm-by- Photography” a creative theory that placed him at the forefront of the development of a modern Japanese photographic aesthetic.
Eikoh Hosoe's most recent work featured in this exhibition is entitled “Ukiyo-e Projections” and was completed on stage during a series of sessions held with Butoh dancers at Tokyo's famous Asbestos Dance Studio founded by Tatsumi Hijikata, the founder of Butoh dance, and his wife Akiko Motofuji. In this series, photographed entirely in color, Hosoe created what he calls a photographic theater continuing his tradition of exploring dramatic themes in photography. Upon the white painted bodies of young Butoh dancers Hosoe projected slides of Ukiyo-e, the often bawdy woodblock prints from 18th century Japanese folk artists. The result is a multi-dimensional tapestry of colors and erotic forms floating in the deep blackness of space. In 2003 the Asbestos Dance Studio, known as an intellectual center for over forty years, was permanently closed. This exhibition is Hosoe's personal tribute to the cultural institution that fostered contemporary Japanese art.
Eikoh Hosoe, born “Toshihio” Hosoe in 1933, was the second son of a Buddhist priest, in Yonesawa , Japan . Following the war, Hosoe adapted the name “Eikoh” as a symbolic gesture acknowledging entry into a new era for Japan . In the early 1950's Hosoe attended The Tokyo College of Photography. While still a student he joined “Demokrato” an avant-garde artist's group under the spiritual leadership of the artist Ei Q. In 1960 he became one of the six founding members of VIVO, a picture agency formed to promote the work of individual photographers. In 1995 Eikoh Hosoe was instrumental in the founding of the Kiysoto Museum of Photographic Arts (K*MoPA). He directs the museum and Buddhist retreat today.
Eikoh Hosoe's work has been exhibited internationally with major exhibitions at the International Center of Photography and Museum of Modern Art , New York ; the Nikon Salon, Tokyo ; George Eastman House, Rochester ; the Victoria and Albert Museum , London and the Smithsonian, Washington , D.C.
 ARTIST STATEMENT
|
