"Sometimes dark, sometimes bright, the different shades of blue and green in this series of gelatin silver prints express my emotional swings in these days of an unknown future. The lockdown has caused me to look at numerous negatives again and print and tone them in the darkroom. Rather than capture phenomena happening outside, they are my correspondence with the sacred scenery in my distant homeland." — Yojiro Imasaka
MIYAKO YOSHINAGA is pleased to present a special reopening exhibition featuring the photo installation “Correspondence” by New York-based artist Yojiro Imasaka (b. 1983, Hiroshima). This project sheds light on the artist’s introspective work created during the last three months of the lockdown.
When New York City was ordered to shut down, Imasaka was in the process of readying large-scale photographs for art fairs. As all activities froze, he went back to basics, reviewing negatives from his previous shooting trip to Japan. Over the next few weeks, Imasaka made more than 50 small gelatin silver prints in his darkroom, a process he could manage without a laboratory or assistant.
“Correspondence” is a contemplation based on bird’s-eye-views of a deep mountain forest in Northern Japan, all shot on the same spot. A spectrum of blue and green shades, like a paintbrush for a painter, expresses his emotional state corresponding nature’s untamed and transient appearance. Sometimes calm, sometimes fierce, the artist spiritually identifies himself with a multifaceted landscape.
"Sometimes dark, sometimes bright, the different shades of blue and green in this series of gelatin silver prints express my emotional swings in these days of an unknown future. The lockdown has caused me to look at numerous negatives again and print and tone them in the darkroom. Rather than capture phenomena happening outside, they are my correspondence with the sacred scenery in my distant homeland." — Yojiro Imasaka
The artist will donate a portion of the proceeds to Doctor Without Borders for their Covid-19 medical efforts.
Yojiro IMASAKA is from Hiroshima, Japan, and he lives and works in New York, USA. His work is in the permanent collection of Minneapolis Institute of Art, Carnegie Museum of Art, San Jose Museum of Art and Mead Art Museum, all in USA. He employs a classic 8 x 10 camera in densely vegetated woodlands, spending hours observing subtle changes in the primeval scenery. After days of monitoring climate variations, he captures highly-detailed images of a universal landscape on a large format negative. Then, in the darkroom, he performs delicate toning and other alterations that create a distinctive custom hue. Like an Impressionist, Imasaka’s work reinterprets nature, extracting a final glow from its increasingly eroded state.
Viewing this exhibition at our physical space is by appointment only unless further notice. For online, please visit our Artsy page and Artforum Spotlight page.
