SUGIURA Kunié: Aspiring Experiments

New York in 50 years

Jul. 24—Sep. 24, 2018

• Jul. 24—Sep. 24, 2018
• Closed ：Monday (if Monday is a national holiday or a substitute holiday, it is the next day)
• Admission：Adults ￥900／College Students ￥800／High School and Junior High School Students,Over 65 ￥700

The Tokyo Photographic Art Museum is honored to present SUGIURA Kunié: Aspiring Experiments/New York in 50 Years.
In 1963, Sugiura Kunié traveled by herself, at the age of 20, to the United States, where she encountered photography at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. When she began her studies, almost no other students there were specializing in photography; painting and sculpture were still the dominant fields at that art school. Sugiura, however, was swift to recognize the potential of photography as a creative medium and produced works using experimental methods. From her very start, this artist has sought modes of expression that focus on the process, including using the distorted effects of images captured with a fisheye lens, montages of the human figure and landscape, solarization, and the use blackand- white and color negatives together.

Having moved to New York in 1967, Sugiura set to work on her full-bore efforts to shatter the traditions and conventions of photography. Incorporating acrylic pigments and canvases in her work, she developed methods for integrating photography and painting. Her context was Pop Art and other trends in the American art scene from the 1960s on; throwing herself into that vortex, she has continued to develop her style. Working from the fundamental perspective that photography is a medium for drawing with light, she has, based on the traditional photogram technique, expanded her motifs to include plants, animals, and human beings as she has refined her distinctive approach. This exhibition traces her more than fifty years in New York while addressing the pioneering nature of her style and her distinctive world view, to examine the compelling fascination of her work as a whole.


Hoppings D Positive2, 1996, Toned gelatin-silver print, Collection of the Artist, Courtesy of Taka Ishii Gallery


‘Racks’installation, 1994, Gelatin‒silver prints mounted on Plexiglas, metal rack, Collection of the Artist


blue animals (4～8 ) hoppings_A_positive Gelatin silver paper on aluminum, Collection of the Artist


Market front, 1978, Photo emulsion, acrylic on canvas, Collection of the Artist
Courtesy of Taka Ishii Gallery


Dr.James D Watson Dp2, 2004, Gelatin silver print, Collection of the Artist


Cko #4 V2/2, 1967, Chromogenic Print (Type C Print),  Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum

Events

Gallery Talks (in Japanese)

Talks take place at 14:00 on the 1st and 3rd Friday of each month.
Free with same-day museum admission.