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For
Immediate Release
January 3, 2005
Contact: Gemma de Santos
Tel. (713) 520-1200
KIRIKO
SHIROBAYASHI: LINES
JANUARY 15 – FEBRUARY 19, 2005
Opening
Reception: Saturday, January 15th from 6-8pm
Artist’s talk at 6:30pm
Houston—De
Santos Gallery presents Lines, new works based on minimalist
landscapes of North America by the young Japanese artist Kiriko
Shirobayashi. The Lines series includes color photographs (20-inch
square C-prints) that combine a delicate Japanese aesthetic with
rugged American landscapes. The horizon line motif underscores a
common thread found in all landscapes, from urban skylines to swampy
wetlands. Shirobayashi transforms the colors of her images, originally
captured on color film, into mysterious, aqueous hues that offer
a refreshing interpretation of the varied American terrain. Her
primary tool is a Hasselblad twin-lens camera loaded with 120mm
film. Her method that transforms the primary colors of the outdoors
comes from a film processing technique called “pushing”
or “pulling,” which means to add or subtract the amount
of time the film is processed.
The 33-year old Shirobayashi was born and raised in Osaka, Japan,
and relocated to New York City in 1996 after working as an assistant
for a fashion photographer in Japan. Hungry for a chance to pursue
her art and to experience another culture, Shirobayashi enrolled
in the School of Visual Arts in New York where she earned a MFA
in Photography and Related Media in 1999. Since then, she has quickly
gained recognition in New York and abroad for her photography projects
including Collected Moments and Sublimation.
Shirobayashi’s influences include important Japanese art movements
virtually unknown in the States: the avant-garde Gutai
group of the 1950s and the Mono-ha school of the 1970s.
The Gutai group challenged the status quo of institutional
exhibition spaces in post-World War II Japan through happenings
and performances, much like the Fluxus and performance artists were
doing in the States. The Mono-ha (literally meaning “school
of things”) school emerged from western influences such as
the Fluxus art movement coupled with Eastern philosophy. The Mono-ha
artists based their art on materials (“things”) as well
as concepts, an approach that has been compared to that of Western
artists Robert Smithson and Richard Long whose earthworks were created
during the same time in the U.S. and England. Unlike their Western
counterparts, the Mono-ha integrated European philosophy
from Heidegger to Merleau-Ponty with Eastern metaphysics. By recognizing
these past movements, now firmly embedded in Japanese art history,
we can better understand the work of contemporary Japanese photographers
such as Mariko Mori, Hiroshi Sugimoto, and Yasumasa Morimura who
have significantly influenced younger generations of photographers—
including Shirobayashi. Shirobayashi has thoughtfully addressed
her foreign influences while making relevant her personal art practice
in the current contemporary photography scene.
Shirobayashi has exhibited her photography and video installations
at international venues such as the M+A Gallery, Amsterdam (2000);
the Nonconformist Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia (2001); National
Museum of Belarus, Minsk, Belarus (2002); and Exit Art, New York,
(2002, 2003). Her work is collected by museums and corporate collections
including the Kinsey Institute Museum, Bloomington, Illinois, and
the Neuberger Berman art collection in New York. She recently mounted
a one-person exhibition at the Center for Photography at Woodstock,
Woodstock, N.Y. in 2002 and exhibited at the Sara Gris Art Gallery
in New York City in 2004. Following her Lines exhibition
at the De Santos Gallery, Shirobayashi will travel to the south
of Spain for an artist residency at the FundaciÛn Valparaiso.
About the De Santos Gallery
The De Santos Gallery, designed by architect Fernando Brave, is
owned and directed by Luis and Gemma de Santos, who are natives
of Spain and long-time residents of Houston. The De Santos Gallery
specializes in photography (including traditional and new media)
from contemporary European and Asian photographers including Anna
Halm-Schudel, Roman Loranc, Sang-Nam Park, and Kimiko Yoshida. The
gallery also has work available by North American and Latin American
artists: Clyde Butcher, Linda Butler, and Edgar Moreno among others.
The
De Santos Gallery is located at 1724-A Richmond Avenue at Dunlavy
Street in the museum district of Houston. Gallery hours are: Wednesday
through Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The gallery will
be closed from December 31st 2004 to January 14th 2005.
For more information, please call 713-520-1200 or visit www.desantosgallery.com.
Current
and Upcoming Exhibitions at the De Santos Gallery:
Kiriko Shirobayashi: Lines, Jan. 15 – Feb. 19, 2005.
Naia del Castillo: Traps and Seduction, Feb. 26 – Apr. 2,
2005.
Pinhole Photography, Apr. 9 – May 14, 2005.
Gregori Maofis: Tarot Series and Other Works, May 21 – Jun.
25, 2005.
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