Hiroshi Sugimoto exhibition draws on Japan’s spiritual past and present – Wallpaper*
It doesn’t get more site-specific than ‘Hiroshi Sugimoto – The Descendant of the Kasuga Spirit’, a new exhibition at Kasuga-Taisha, an 8th-century Shinto Shrines complex in the ancient city of Nara in Japan’s Kansai region, which reflects the close relationship between the Kasuga-embraced Japanese artist and the sacred site.
Sugimoto, whose artistic expression spans sculpture, photography, performing art and architecture, is also an acclaimed collector of Shinto and Buddhist antiques, notably from Kasuga. For Sugimoto, Shinto – a Japanese animist religion dating back to the 8th century whose minimalist aesthetics are the foundation of Japanese refinement – came first. Then Buddhism spread in Japan and the two were fused.
Installation view of ‘Hiroshi Sugimoto – The Descendant of the Kasuga Spirit’ at the Kasuga-Taisha shrine in Nara, Japan
(Image credit: Sugimoto Studio )
‘Kasuga’s art came to me, it’s not the other way round,’ he says. ‘I learn immensely from the masterpieces I collect. They are so inspiring. Now that our civilisation is on a downhill trajectory, we should learn from the beauty of ancient times. The deeper I explore Shinto and Buddhist art, the more it reveals the shallowness of contemporary art’, quips the artist. ‘I buy antiques by selling my artworks. My collection generates a circular system.’
Thoughtfully curated under the supervision of Sugimoto, the show is composed of two chapters. The National Treasure House showcases more than 90 Kasuga antiques, such as Kakemonos, objects and masks from the 8th to the 16th century, including pieces selected from the artist’s private collection.
Installation view of ‘Hiroshi Sugimoto – The Descendant of the Kasuga Spirit’ at the Kasuga-Taisha shrine in Nara, Japan
(Image credit: Sugimoto Studio )
To connect heritage and modernity, Sugimoto has adorned the back of a deer statuette with one of his iconic works, five elements, a miniature five-storey tower made of optic glass. (According to Shinto mythology, the Kasuga god appeared on the back of this sacred animal.) If this chapter indicates the artist’s creative motivations, his new works reveal a bold new direction.
Large – 215cm x 565cm – folding screens of colour photography are spread across eight panels. For this, he employed the latest digital techniques using emulsion coating to fix enlarged platinum prints on Japanese paper Washi, an experimental approach Sugimoto has been exploring in recent years. Platinum prints feature richer nuances of black, which add striking depth to the artist’s ink painting-like photography, while Washi, with its thick, matte, textured quality, serves as the perfect material for Japanese-style screens.
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