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Now and Then, Japanese Photography and Art

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NOW AND THEN
Don’t Follow the Wind, Leiko Ikemura, Rinko Kawauchi, Ken Kitano, Tatsuo Miyajima, Daido Moriyama, Asako Narahashi, Mika Ninagawa, Lieko Shiga, Issei Suda, Yutaka Takanashi, Shomei Tomatsu and others

Dezember 5th, 2015 – January 23rd, 2016

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“NOW AND THEN” is the second exhibition in the new rooms of | PRISKA PASQUER. It is devoted to Japanese photography and art.

The exhibition brings together a number of different eras and media. Classical positions of Japanese post-war photography rub shoulders with the studious shots of Rinko Kawauchi; the bright pop aesthetic of Mika Ninagawa collides with the raw imagery of “Provoke” protagonists Daido Moriyama and Yutaka Takanashi; Leiko Ikemura’s contemporary painting is juxtaposed with a digital LED installation by Tatsuo Miyajima. On a thematic level, “NOW AND THEN” casts an eye on Japanese society. Past, present and future, changes and threats, possibilities and defeats are viewed from a wide variety of perspectives. As different as the artistic positions are, they all share a peculiarly Japanese approach to dealing with reality: the artists do not attempt to pigeon-hole what they find, but rather approach reality with a high degree of openness. This approach gives rise to a unique aesthetic. An aesthetic that toys with the visible and invisible, always referencing more than can be seen in the picture.

At the same time, all artists deal with very specific themes – always rupture, transition and change. These are discerned, shown and channelled into the image. However, they are not evaluated, nor is any attempt made to present reality in an explicable format or pattern.

The curtain on “NOW AND THEN” is raised with the website for the project titled “Don’t Follow the Wind”. Initiated by artist group Chim↑Pom and with ten international artists in radioactively contaminated houses near the Fukushima nuclear power plant, the exhibition on the Tepco company site is not visible in any real sense. The contaminated site is out of bounds for the general public until such time as it is decontaminated. It is not known when and even whether this will ever be the case. Accordingly, the website is also “invisible”. A blank white screen with a soundtrack, but nothing to be seen.

Since 2000, | PRISKA PASQUER has shown many exhibitions featuring the leading names in Japanese photography – both in its own gallery rooms and in cooperation with institutions in Germany and abroad (e.g. FOAM in Amsterdam, Fondation Henri-Cartier-Bresson in Paris, FOMU in Antwerp and Hundertwasser Haus in Vienna).

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„NOW AND THEN“ ist die zweite Ausstellung in den neuen Räumen von | PRISKA PASQUER. Sie widmet sich der japanischen Fotografie und Kunst.

Die Ausstellung vereint verschiedene Zeiten und Medien. Klassische Positionen der japanischen  Nachkriegsfotografie stehen neben den achtsam- konzentrierten Aufnahmen von Rinko Kawauchi, die knallbunte Pop-Ästhetik von Mika Ninagawa kollidiert mit der rauen Bildsprache der “Provoke”- Protagonisten Daido Moriyama und Yutaka Takanashi, aktuelle Malerei von Leiko Ikemura trifft auf eine digitale LED-Installation von Tatsuo Miyajima.

Auf inhaltlicher Ebene richtet „NOW AND THEN“ den Blick auf die japanische Gesellschaft. Vergangenheit, Gegenwart, Zukunft, Veränderungen und Bedrohungen, Möglichkeiten und Niederlagen werden aus unterschiedlichsten Perspektiven fokussiert. So verschieden die künstlerischen Positionen auch sind, eint sie doch ein spezifisch japanischer Umgang mit der Wirklichkeit: Die Künstler versuchen nicht, das Vorhandene, Vorgefundene in feste Kategorien zu fassen, sondern begegnen der Wirklichkeit mit einer großen Offenheit. Aus diesem Ansatz heraus entwickelt sich eine besondere Ästhetik. Es ist ein Spiel mit dem Sichtbaren und dem Unsichtbaren, das immer auf mehr verweist, als im Bild konkret sichtbar ist.

Dabei sprechen alle Künstler ganz konkrete Themen an. Immer geht es um die Brüche, Veränderungen und den Wandel. Diese werden wahrgenommen, gezeigt und ins Bild übertragen. Sie werden jedoch weder bewertet, noch wird versucht, die Wirklichkeit in ein erklärbares Format und Raster zu bringen.

Den Auftakt zu „NOW AND THEN“ macht die Website des Projekts „Don’t Follow the Wind”. Die von der Künstlergruppe Chim↑Pom initiierte und mit zehn internationalen Künstlern in radioaktiv verstrahlten Häusern in der Nähe des Atomkraftwerkes Fukushima realisierte Ausstellung auf dem Gelände der Firma Tepco ist faktisch nicht sichtbar. Das verstrahlte Gelände ist für die Öffentlichkeit gesperrt und wird erst nach seiner Dekontaminierung wieder betreten werden können. Es ist vollkommen ungewiss, wann und ob dies jemals der Fall sein wird. Entsprechend „unsichtbar“ ist auch die Website: Ein leerer weißer Screen, auf dem nur ein Sound-Track läuft, aber nichts zu sehen ist.

Seit dem Jahr 2000 hat | PRISKA PASQUER eine Vielzahl von Ausstellungen mit den bedeutendsten Vertretern der japanischen Fotografie gezeigt – sowohl in den eigenen Räumen als auch in Zusammenarbeit mit Institutionen im In- und
Ausland (z. B. FOAM, Amsterdam, Fondation Henri-Cartier-Bresson, Paris, FOMU, Antwerpen, Hundertwasser Haus, Wien).

Osamu Shiihara, Shomei Tomatsu, Daido Moriyama, Nobuyoshi Araki, Issei Suda, Asako Narahashi, Rinko Kawauchi, Mika Ninagawa, REVIEW / PREVIEW – JAPANESE PHOTOGRAPHS

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REVIEW / PREVIEW – JAPANESE PHOTOGRAPHS

Osamu Shiihara, Shomei Tomatsu, Daido Moriyama, Nobuyoshi Araki, Issei Suda, Asako Narahashi, Rinko Kawauchi, Mika Ninagawa

June 24th – September 6th, 2008

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Press Release

With the group exhibition ‘Review / Preview’, we have the pleasure of giving an initial overview of the programme of Japanese photography at Galerie Priska Pasquer.
Since its earliest days, Galerie Priska Pasquer has regularly played host to individual exhibitions on Japanese photography – including the works of Daido Moriyama, Eikoh Hosoe and Rinko Kawauchi – with further exhibitions in a similar vein currently being prepared for the coming season.
The works that make up the exhibition are drawn from a total of seven decades. The earliest photograph in the exhibition is an experimental oeuvre by avant-garde photographer Osamu Shiihara.

From the 1960s there are two key photographs by Shomei Tomatsu, whose series on the current condition and traditions of Japanese society established him as the most influential photographer since the war.

The 1970s are represented by Issei Suda and his outstanding ‘Fushi Kaden’ series. An exhibition dedicated exclusively to Issei Suda’s work will be held at Galerie Priska Pasquer next November, the first event of its kind to be held in the West.
The exhibition will also include works by Daido Moriyama from the 1980s and 1990s – as the representative of the ‘Provoke Era’, he has had a key influence on Japanese photography since the late 1960s.

Also from the 1980s are a number of works by Nobuyoshi Araki, who holds a singular position in modern photography, primarily owing to his obsessive preoccupation with Eros and Thanatos, juxtaposed with descriptions of his own life.

Contemporary photography is represented in this exhibition by three women photographers. The first of these is Rinko Kawauchi, whose poetic and sensitive works have twice been exhibited by Galerie Priska Pasquer (in Cologne and recently in Paris): namely the series of colour photographs ‘Utatane’ and ‘Aila’.
The second is Mika Ninagawa, whose goldfish series ‘Liquid Dreams’ walks a delicate line between art and pop culture.
And the third is Asako Narahashi, whose work reached a wider audience for the very first time with her series ‘half awake and half asleep in the water’, published last autumn. Following ‘Review / Preview – Japanese Photography’, Galerie Priska Pasquer will present the series ‘half awake and half asleep in the water’ in an individual exhibition (Vernissage 12 Sept.: attended by Asako Narahashi).

| EN

Press Release

With the group exhibition ‘Review / Preview’, we have the pleasure of giving an initial overview of the programme of Japanese photography at Galerie Priska Pasquer.
Since its earliest days, Galerie Priska Pasquer has regularly played host to individual exhibitions on Japanese photography – including the works of Daido Moriyama, Eikoh Hosoe and Rinko Kawauchi – with further exhibitions in a similar vein currently being prepared for the coming season.
The works that make up the exhibition are drawn from a total of seven decades. The earliest photograph in the exhibition is an experimental oeuvre by avant-garde photographer Osamu Shiihara.

From the 1960s there are two key photographs by Shomei Tomatsu, whose series on the current condition and traditions of Japanese society established him as the most influential photographer since the war.

The 1970s are represented by Issei Suda and his outstanding ‘Fushi Kaden’ series. An exhibition dedicated exclusively to Issei Suda’s work will be held at Galerie Priska Pasquer next November, the first event of its kind to be held in the West.
The exhibition will also include works by Daido Moriyama from the 1980s and 1990s – as the representative of the ‘Provoke Era’, he has had a key influence on Japanese photography since the late 1960s.

Also from the 1980s are a number of works by Nobuyoshi Araki, who holds a singular position in modern photography, primarily owing to his obsessive preoccupation with Eros and Thanatos, juxtaposed with descriptions of his own life.

Contemporary photography is represented in this exhibition by three women photographers. The first of these is Rinko Kawauchi, whose poetic and sensitive works have twice been exhibited by Galerie Priska Pasquer (in Cologne and recently in Paris): namely the series of colour photographs ‘Utatane’ and ‘Aila’.
The second is Mika Ninagawa, whose goldfish series ‘Liquid Dreams’ walks a delicate line between art and pop culture.
And the third is Asako Narahashi, whose work reached a wider audience for the very first time with her series ‘half awake and half asleep in the water’, published last autumn. Following ‘Review / Preview – Japanese Photography’, Galerie Priska Pasquer will present the series ‘half awake and half asleep in the water’ in an individual exhibition (Vernissage 12 Sept.: attended by Asako Narahashi).

PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE 1920S-1930S

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PHOTOGRAPHS

FROM THE 1920S-1930S

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Press Release
Ilse Bing, Pierre Jahan, Werner Rohde,
Osamu Shiihara, Umbo, Sasha Stone and Elfriede Stegemeyer

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Press Release
Ilse Bing, Pierre Jahan, Werner Rohde,
Osamu Shiihara, Umbo, Sasha Stone and Elfriede Stegemeyer

Heinz Hajek-Halke, Gustav Klutsis, El Lissitzky, Alexander Rodchenko, Osamu Shiihara and others, VINTAGE PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE 1920S AND 1930S

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VINTAGE PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE 1920S AND 1930S

Heinz Hajek-Halke, Gustav Klutsis,

El Lissitzky, Alexander Rodchenko, Osamu Shiihara and others

November 10th, 2000 – January 31st, 2001

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The premiere exhibition of “Vintage Photography of the 1920s and 1930s” on November 9th, 2000 marks the opening of Galerie Priska Pasquer in Cologne. The newly opened gallery located at Goebenstraße 3 offers collectors of fine art photography a first-time opportunity to view a representative sampling of artwork from among the gallery’s stock.

Priska Pasquer’s representation of European photography has enjoyed long-standing success. Previously employed for a number of years at Galerie Rudolf Kicken in Cologne, Ms. Pasquer has since launched out on her own as an art dealer and creative consultant in distinguished international collections. Her exclusive representation of such renowned photographers as El Lissitzky, Gustav Klucis and Heinz Hajek-Halke attests to the authentic caliber of her professional expertise over the years.

The opening of Galerie Priska Pasquer hallmarks its commitment to further enhance the preparation and presentation of photography of the 1920s, 1930s and 1950s. The gallery also plans to introduce an emphatic trend in photography by way of augmenting the prospective repertoire with select works of contemporary art as a rejoinder to the challenge occasioned by the departure of prominent galleries from the Rhineland to Berlin.

Approximately 70 vintage European and Japanese photographs of the 1920s and 1930s are represented in the opening exhibition. The centerpiece of the presentation consists of photomontages by El Lissitzky, including one of his most celebrated works, “The Constructor” (1924). “The Constructor”, which ranks as one of the most significant self-portraits in the 20th century, embodies “the struggle for artistic creativity by combining modern technology with the human intellect” (M. Tupitsyn). Particularly deserving of critical attention are the photomontages “Lenin’s Death Mask” and “Self-portrait” presented on the occasion of the 1928 Pressa Exhibition in Cologne.

Additional Soviet artists, such as Alexander Rodchenko, Gustav Klucis and Max Penson, whose works are also represented in the exhibition, capture in their photography dynamic scenes in public settings and tableaux of crowds, alongside more intimate evocations of the artists’ personal surroundings, as well as working prints and drafts for political posters.

Western European representatives of “New Photography”, who figure among the pioneers of the revolutionary forms of expression of the 1920s and 1930s and whose portraits, objectified forms and experimental photographs are featured in the exhibition, notably include Franz Roh, Umbo, Aenne Biermann and Heinz Hajek-Halke. Photographed stage sets and still lifes by the Italian Futurists Cesare Cerati, Renato di Bosso, Marisa Mori and Ivo Pannaggi round off the high spots of this premiere exhibition.