After completing the Master's degree at Tokyo University of the Arts, Toshio Shibata attended the photography course at the Royal Academy in Belgium, where he began focusing on the media. In the late 1980s, after coming back to Japan, he received acclaim for his original landscape photography which captured artificially constructed sites such as dams and developed areas covered with concrete.
In 1992, Shibata received the renowned Kimura Ihei Award, which is given to the most promising emerging photographer every year. Using 8x10 large format camera, he elaborately captured ordinary scenes from an objective standpoint. However, these mundane scenes remain unforgettable, reminding us of culture and social problems that are unique to Japan. While taken by the beauty of artificial structures embedded in nature, we can also perceive a sense of warning.
Since the late 90s, Shibata has photographed dam sites in America. There's no literal element in his photographs that indicate where they were taken, and yet subtle differences of each region and issues surrounding them come forth as we stare at them. Shibata's works are in the collections of museums in Japan as well as overseas. Despite his international acclaim, there hasn't been many opportunities to trace his entire career. This exhibition showcases his works from the museum collection, including his recent color photographs.
[Image: "Grand Coulee Dam, Douglas County, WA" (1996)]
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