This year, in partnership with the Brussels gallery, La Patinoire Royal Galerie Bach, we will be presenting works of American artist Melissa Shook (b. 1939 - d. 2020) — which we proudly introduced last year — and works of Japanese-American artist Ken Ohara (born 1942). Unbeknownst to each other, both of these artists began a series of daily self-portraits in downtown New York in 1972.
These two major series of photo diaries will be exhibited side by side for the first time, revealing different approaches and forms in a common medium and similar period and location. In their psychologically complex journals, Shook's daughter and Ohara's live-in girlfriend play significant roles respectively in giving deeper meaning to these self-images. We believe you will be enchanted by these unpretentious and free-spirited portraitures.
These two major series of photo diaries will be exhibited side by side for the first time, revealing different approaches and forms in a common medium and similar period and location. In their psychologically complex journals, Shook's daughter and Ohara's live-in girlfriend play significant roles respectively in giving deeper meaning to these self-images. We believe you will be enchanted by these unpretentious and free-spirited portraitures.
