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Sato Tokihiro

Presence or Absence

May. 13—Jul. 13, 2014

• May. 13—Jul. 13, 2014
• Closed Monday(if Monday is a national holiday or a substitute holiday, it is the next day)
• Admission：Adults ￥700／College Students ￥600／High School and Junior High School Students,Over 65 ￥500

Sato Tokihiro creates his work, taking light, time, space, and the body as his themes, using the pinhole camera, camera obscura, and long exposures. In his Photo-Respiration series, one of his masterworks, the artist himself walks in the scene opening out before the camera—the sea, a forest—carrying a mirror, and the light reflected from the mirror and faint traces of his own movements are captured on film or digital media. The specks of light in these landscapes, recorded using long exposures, create the world of mystery that is among the elements making this photographer a peerless presence in the visual arts.
Sato's domain includes not only two-dimensional works but also scenes changing with the passage of time or through movement, presented as installations, created using structures or vehicles modified to serve as camera devices. He is also deeply focused on the optical and chemical aspects that are indispensable in relation to the medium of photography, carrying out various explorations of them in order to turn his themes into works.
This exhibition will present a large number of new, two-dimensional works, mainly prints. In them we see Sato's continued development of the creative philosophy that he has engaged with and cultivated since the beginning of his career. In addition to works newly added to the Tokyo From the Photo-Respiration series, 2013.
Metropolitan Museum of Photography collection, this ambitious exhibition will include the Photo–Respiration series and his latest work created using a digital pinhole camera.


 From the Greening Light series, 2004

Artist's biography

Born in 1957 in the city of Sakata, Yamagata Prefecture, Sato graduated with a major in sculpture from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Tokyo University of the Arts. In 1984, he completed a master's degree in sculpture at the same university. Given his university studies of sculpture, Sato's interest was directed, from early on, to light and space and three-dimensional spatial compositions using luminous bodies. After experimenting with painting and sculpture, he turned to photography. His highly distinctive work, in which he captures light and his own movements on film, using a penlight or a mirror, and long exposures, garnered considerable attention. In 1990, he received the sixth Higashikawa New Photographer Prize and was awarded three prizes at the 18th International Art Exhibition (the Tokyo Biennale): the Japan Association for Promotion of Arts Prize, the Iwaki City Art Museum Prize, and the Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, Prize. Highly regarded overseas as well, he has been invited to participate in the 5th Busan Youth Biennale, in 1990, the 1st Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (Brisbane,1993), and the 6th Havana Biennale (1997). He has shown work in many major international exhibitions, including Liquid Crystal Futures (1994) and Photography and Beyond in Japan(1995). (Biography translated from Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, 328 Outstanding Japanese Photographers (Tokyo: Tankosha, 2000).

left) From Photo-Respiration, Shirakami#7 2008
right) From Photo-Respiration,#284 Dojunkai apartment 1996

■Organized by:Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, The Yomiuri Shimbun,The Japan Association of Art Museums
■Supported by:Japan Arts Fund
■Sponsored by:NIKON CORPORATION,Nikon Imaging Japan Inc.,Epson Sales Japan Corporation,Yasui Architects & Engineers,Inc.,Lion Corporation,Shimizu Corporation,Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.,Sompo Japan・ Nipponkoa Insurance Inc.,Nippon Television Network Corporation,Corporate Membership of Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography
■Cooperration from Kashima Corporation,Warkers Framing

Events

Gallery tours in Japanese

May. 16 (Fri) 14:00～
Jun. 6 (Fri) 14:00～
Jun. 20 (Fri) 14:00～
Jul. 4 (Fri) 14:00～