Hiroshi Sugimoto Exhibition

Photo taken in the Natural History Museum, USA

 I took a chance and without booking, I turned up at the Hayward Gallery on the South Bank and was lucky enough to get entry into Hiroshi Sugimoto's exhibition. He is a Japanese artist and architect whose work I didn't know, but from the Hayward website, I decided it was worth a visit.

The exhibition was over three floors and consisted mainly of black and white photos. An experimental artist using water and electricity to generate vibrant photos, and even designing and building objects to photograph. I particularly enjoyed Lightning Fields photos and the photos taken in the Natural History Museum in the USA using an old fashioned camera set up in front of the cases of stuffed animals. He wanted to make them come alive. This he achieved, as the photos look like they were shot in a proper landscape.

I wasn't so sure about these. The artist used double infinity to see how the architecture stood up. If I uploaded out of focus photos, I'd apologise. Maybe I should call it art!

One area was given over to photos taken at different times of the day at a Buddhist Temple. Apparently Sugimoto took around 40 altogether. Here was just a selection. There were also seascapes and a room of colour photos that reminded me of the artist Rothko. I took photos of the techniques Sugimoto used as it is far too complicated to explain!

In the basement were photos of staged murder and torture. I wasn't sure I wanted to see those, but there were very few. I didn't take any photos down there!

I find it interesting to see how artist's minds work, what makes them photograph, paint or sculpt what they do. Even if I don't particularly like something, it is good to understand what is behind the art work, and then I can at least appreciate it (most of the time). Once in a while I visit exhibitions by artists I don't know because I tend to stick with well know artists, either those classic ones from bygone eras or people like Hockney. So, I shall try to be a bit more adventurous this year. 

Unfortunbately, the exhibition is now closed. This was a last minute decision and I was lucky I got there a few days before it ended. Pleased to have had the opportunity of viewing Sugimoto's work.

Opticks (see below)

Very Rothko!

Portraits - Taken at Madame Tussauds

Objects built by the artist to photograph