Exhibition/event has ended.
Muga Miyahara “Renaissance”
Taka Ishii Gallery Photography / Film
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Artists
Muga Miyahara
This exhibition will be Muga Miyahara’s first solo exhibition with the gallery and feature approximately 13 pieces from his latest and ongoing series “Renaissance” and “Radiation,” which he began last year.
Influenced by his art director father, Miyahara was acquainted with art at an early age. In his late teens, he aspired to become a photographer and is now working on the frontline of photography, primarily in the fields of fashion advertising and editorial photography. As an artist, his interest in the history and classical techniques of photography deepened. He has crossed photographic genres and techniques effortlessly, making images that capture a moment on the one hand and constructed images fabricated like paintings on the other. Feeling increasingly uncomfortable with his experiences in commercial fashion photography, which he felt was merely mimicking Western mode magazines, he began to explore his own identity and became well versed in Japanese history and traditional culture. His recent works manifest a sensibility, which is informed by the discoveries he made in his research.
In the “Renaissance” series, Miyahara tears apart his own prints and casually collages the scattered parts to breathe new life into them. The resulting images are also an expression of small universes that the artist can control. He has said that the experience of dismantling two dimensional prints of actually existent three dimensional objects and reassembling them in new configurations to partially destroy the uniqueness of the images and partially strengthen their signification is akin to the sensation of looking through a peep hole. Unlike a puzzle which must be assembled with a specific end in mind, the collaged parts in “Renaissance” move freely on the picture plane and the artist’s hand dominates the resultant world unconsciously.
The childlike impulses seen in “Renaissance” are also notably present in “Radiation.” The series takes cue from a method of drawing Miyahara favored as a child. The method involves laying down an array of colors and covering it over in black in crayon, and scratching at the surface to reveal multi-colored lines beneath. In the series, this technique is coupled with a radial motif, with which the artist is also strongly drawn to. In radiating light, he sees release and convergence of the energy of life. In concert, the release and convergence also represents the boundary between life and death. In the series, the radial motifs are placed infinitely or all over the pictorial plane to symbolize an idle space. The resulting images express something like a prayer for Miyahara.
Influenced by his art director father, Miyahara was acquainted with art at an early age. In his late teens, he aspired to become a photographer and is now working on the frontline of photography, primarily in the fields of fashion advertising and editorial photography. As an artist, his interest in the history and classical techniques of photography deepened. He has crossed photographic genres and techniques effortlessly, making images that capture a moment on the one hand and constructed images fabricated like paintings on the other. Feeling increasingly uncomfortable with his experiences in commercial fashion photography, which he felt was merely mimicking Western mode magazines, he began to explore his own identity and became well versed in Japanese history and traditional culture. His recent works manifest a sensibility, which is informed by the discoveries he made in his research.
In the “Renaissance” series, Miyahara tears apart his own prints and casually collages the scattered parts to breathe new life into them. The resulting images are also an expression of small universes that the artist can control. He has said that the experience of dismantling two dimensional prints of actually existent three dimensional objects and reassembling them in new configurations to partially destroy the uniqueness of the images and partially strengthen their signification is akin to the sensation of looking through a peep hole. Unlike a puzzle which must be assembled with a specific end in mind, the collaged parts in “Renaissance” move freely on the picture plane and the artist’s hand dominates the resultant world unconsciously.
The childlike impulses seen in “Renaissance” are also notably present in “Radiation.” The series takes cue from a method of drawing Miyahara favored as a child. The method involves laying down an array of colors and covering it over in black in crayon, and scratching at the surface to reveal multi-colored lines beneath. In the series, this technique is coupled with a radial motif, with which the artist is also strongly drawn to. In radiating light, he sees release and convergence of the energy of life. In concert, the release and convergence also represents the boundary between life and death. In the series, the radial motifs are placed infinitely or all over the pictorial plane to symbolize an idle space. The resulting images express something like a prayer for Miyahara.
Schedule | Aug 20 (Sat) 2016-Sep 17 (Sat) 2016 Opening Hours Information
Opening Reception Aug 20 (Sat) 2016 18:00 - 20:00 | ||||
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| Fee | Free | ||||
| Website | http://www.takaishiigallery.com/en/archives/19096/ | ||||
| Venue | Taka Ishii Gallery Photography / Film http://www.takaishiigallery.com/ | ||||
| Location | 2F Axis Bldg., 5-17-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0032 | ||||
| Access | 8 minute walk from exit 3 at Roppongi Station on the Hibiya or Toei Oedo line, 8 minute walk from exit 1 at Roppongi-itchome Station on the Namboku line. | ||||
| Phone | 03-6447-1035 | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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