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Exhibitions
Tokihiro Sato - Photo-Respiration: City Scape
2025/10/25 Sat - 12/7 Sun
October 25 – December 7, 2025
Wed–Sun 13:00-18:00 *Nov 7–9 open from 10:00 for Art Week Tokyo 2024. Nov 29 closes at 17:30 for an event
Mon, Tue, and public holidays closed
Wed–Sun 13:00-18:00 *Nov 7–9 open from 10:00 for Art Week Tokyo 2024. Nov 29 closes at 17:30 for an event
Mon, Tue, and public holidays closed
Opening Reception: オープニングレセプション：2025年10月25日（土）18:00-20:00
Introduction
Tokihiro Sato has long explored themes such as light, time, space, and the body. Through his use of unique techniques including pinhole cameras, the camera obscura, and long exposure - he has opened new dimensions in photographic expression.
This exhibition presents works from Sato’s iconic series Photo-Respiration, focusing on the “City Scape” works created within architectural and urban spaces. Centered on photographs in which the artist records traces of light drawn with a handheld penlight during long exposures in darkness, the show also includes works made by reflecting sunlight with mirrors.
“There are spaces within buildings that appear to me like air pockets,” Sato notes. In these spaces, he shapes light through the movement of his own body - a method rooted in his background in sculpture. The resulting photographs are filled with a sense of time made visible, each one capturing an abstract and tangible moment of light.
The exhibition also features newly produced contact prints made directly from the original 8×10-inch negatives used during the time of the shooting.
This exhibition presents works from Sato’s iconic series Photo-Respiration, focusing on the “City Scape” works created within architectural and urban spaces. Centered on photographs in which the artist records traces of light drawn with a handheld penlight during long exposures in darkness, the show also includes works made by reflecting sunlight with mirrors.
“There are spaces within buildings that appear to me like air pockets,” Sato notes. In these spaces, he shapes light through the movement of his own body - a method rooted in his background in sculpture. The resulting photographs are filled with a sense of time made visible, each one capturing an abstract and tangible moment of light.
The exhibition also features newly produced contact prints made directly from the original 8×10-inch negatives used during the time of the shooting.
Event
Gallery Talk: Tokihiro Sato in conversation with Masafumi Fukagawa (Curator/Critic)
November 29, 2025 (Sat) 6pm to 7:30 pm
POETIC SCAPE
Reservation required / Capacity: 20 guests
¥1,500 (includes a small party after the talk)
*Reservations can be made through the designated form available via our website and social media links.
POETIC SCAPE
Reservation required / Capacity: 20 guests
¥1,500 (includes a small party after the talk)
*Reservations can be made through the designated form available via our website and social media links.
Profile
- Tokihiro Sato
Born in Yamagata Prefecture in 1957. Completed a graduate degree in sculpture at Tokyo University of the Arts. He has continued to develop a practice rooted in his own physicality, focusing on the structures of photography and expressions of light, as well as engaging in educational and outreach activities.
Major solo exhibitions include Sakata City Museum of Art (1999), The Art Institute of Chicago (2005), “Presence or Absence” at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts (2010), “There, Yet Not There” at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum (2014), and “Hachinohe Magic Lantern” at the Hachinohe Art Museum (2022).
Recipient of the 65th Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s Art Encouragement Prize. Currently Professor Emeritus at Tokyo University of the Arts and Director of the Domon Ken Photography Museum.
Major solo exhibitions include Sakata City Museum of Art (1999), The Art Institute of Chicago (2005), “Presence or Absence” at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts (2010), “There, Yet Not There” at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum (2014), and “Hachinohe Magic Lantern” at the Hachinohe Art Museum (2022).
Recipient of the 65th Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s Art Encouragement Prize. Currently Professor Emeritus at Tokyo University of the Arts and Director of the Domon Ken Photography Museum.