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Exhibitions
Shimpei Yamagami - KANON
2024/5/18 Sat - 6/30 Sun
May 18 – June 30, 2024
Thursday–Sunday 13:00–18:00 *Closes at 16:30 on June 8 for event.
Monday–Wednesday by appointment only
Thursday–Sunday 13:00–18:00 *Closes at 16:30 on June 8 for event.
Monday–Wednesday by appointment only
Opening Reception: 2024年5月18日（土）18:00-20:00
Introduction
POETIC SCAPE is pleased to present KANON, Shimpei Yamagami’s solo exhibition from May 18th to June 30th.
The exhibition will showcase works created between two series, “The Disintegration Loops (2019)” and “liminal (eyes) (2023)”also previously held at POETIC SCAPE.
While documenting his early black and white photographic works (“EQUAL”, ”SOW”,”SPECTRUM”) and colored photographs“The Disintegration Loops”, he focused on “the motionless yet full of life” woods and underbrush in the mountains. Yamagami consistently captured photographs with an altering gaze, but one day came to a realization that his gaze had reached the end point of a phase - in order to bring his gaze into a new ground, he decided to concentrate on “looking at the dynamic '' for his next subject. The subject he chose was butterflies.
However, the flurry activities of the butterflies were extremely difficult to capture. As he became mentally and physically drained, Yamagami analyzed his past photographic works - repeating trial and error, breaking the straight forward gaze from his static subjects of the past. After experiencing such exertions, he embraced “the quality of seeing, is from the gaze that only stares, to the gaze that only touches without catching”as the newborn phase of his work. The new phase emerged as his next work “liminal eyes”. In the process of acquiring the “touch”, Yamagami abandoned the photographer's attempt to see his subject subjectively by choosing to focus on the object. He suggests that there is a world that can be seen by accepting the others as they are.
Deriving from the“touch” of a gaze and an attitude of acceptance, “KANON” inhibits the beauty of the butterfly’s “gestural life” breaking free from the norm.
The exhibition will showcase works created between two series, “The Disintegration Loops (2019)” and “liminal (eyes) (2023)”also previously held at POETIC SCAPE.
While documenting his early black and white photographic works (“EQUAL”, ”SOW”,”SPECTRUM”) and colored photographs“The Disintegration Loops”, he focused on “the motionless yet full of life” woods and underbrush in the mountains. Yamagami consistently captured photographs with an altering gaze, but one day came to a realization that his gaze had reached the end point of a phase - in order to bring his gaze into a new ground, he decided to concentrate on “looking at the dynamic '' for his next subject. The subject he chose was butterflies.
However, the flurry activities of the butterflies were extremely difficult to capture. As he became mentally and physically drained, Yamagami analyzed his past photographic works - repeating trial and error, breaking the straight forward gaze from his static subjects of the past. After experiencing such exertions, he embraced “the quality of seeing, is from the gaze that only stares, to the gaze that only touches without catching”as the newborn phase of his work. The new phase emerged as his next work “liminal eyes”. In the process of acquiring the “touch”, Yamagami abandoned the photographer's attempt to see his subject subjectively by choosing to focus on the object. He suggests that there is a world that can be seen by accepting the others as they are.
Deriving from the“touch” of a gaze and an attitude of acceptance, “KANON” inhibits the beauty of the butterfly’s “gestural life” breaking free from the norm.
Event
Gallery Talk: Shimpei Yamagami, Yoshitaka Haba (Founder of BACH) and Satoshi Machiguchi (Designer and Founder of MATCH and Company Ltd.)
June 8, 2024, 17:00–18:30
POETIC SCAPE
¥1,000 (includes a small party after the talk). Reservation required, capacity 20 people
POETIC SCAPE
¥1,000 (includes a small party after the talk). Reservation required, capacity 20 people
Profile
Shimpei Yamagami
Born in Kanagawa in 1984. After leaving Iino Media Pro, he began working as a photographer.
Major group exhibitions include LUMIX MEETS BEYOND 2020 BY JAPANESE PHOTOGRAPHERS #3 (YellowKorner Paris Pompidou, Paris, 2015; IMA gallery, Tokyo, 2016), Daikanyama Photo Fair 2017 (Daikanyama Hillside Forum, Tokyo, 2017), and 3days EXHIBITION (Saison Art Gallery, Tokyo, 2017).
His solo exhibitions include 0189 (Shashokudo | SUPPOSE DESIGN OFFICE / Youngtree Press, Tokyo, 2017), Shimpei Yamagami Exhibition (Shibunkaku, Tokyo & Kyoto, 2019), The Disintegration Loops (POETIC SCAPE, Tokyo, 2019), and Refined black (Laboratory △II, Tokyo, 2019).
In 2017, he received the Yoshitomo Nara Prize at the Daikanyama Photo Fair Competition.
In 2022, he published the photobook Helix, produced by designer Akira Minagawa (mina perhonen). In November 2022, his photobook liminal (eyes) YAMAGAMI, published by bookshop M, was presented at PARIS PHOTO.
