Shimpei Yamagami "Kanon"

Poetic Scape

Finished

Artists

Shimpei Yamagami

In the production of the early monochrome trilogy ("Equal," "Sow," "Spectrum") and the color work "The Disintegration Loops," Shimpei Yamagami confronts "living still life" such as the trees on the mountainside at his feet, gradually changing his perspective while continuing to take photographs. He says that at one point, this perspective reached a critical point. In bringing it into a new phase, he made "gazing at the dynamic" the next theme. The chosen subject for this was butterflies.

However, capturing butterflies, which move irregularly, proved extremely challenging. Amid mental and physical exhaustion, Yamagami analyzed his photographs to break away from the static gaze that had focused on still subjects until then and experimented repeatedly. After much struggle, he says that a phase emerged: "a gaze that touches without trying to capture," as opposed to the gaze that stares intently in an attempt to capture. It is said that this gaze acquired through struggle leads to his next work, "liminal (eyes)." In acquiring this gaze of "touching only," Yamagami chose to abandon the photographer's attempt to observe the subject and instead focus on the object of how to see rather than how not to see. He also began to believe that a world becomes visible by accepting the other as they are.

The "Kanon" born from the gaze of "touching only" and the attitude of accepting things as they are is filled with the beauty of the "dynamic life" of butterflies liberated from stereotypical images.

[Event]
Gallery Talk
Date and Time: June 8th (Saturday) 17:00-18:30
Guests: Shimpei Yamagami × Yoshitaka Haba × Satoru Machiguchi
Reservation required, participation fee 1000 yen, mini party included
※For event details and how to apply, please check the official website.

Schedule

May 18 (Sat) 2024-Jun 30 (Sun) 2024