Opening: May 7 , 6-9 pm

In the presence of the artist

Fifty One Fine Art Photography is pleased to present the new solo exhibition by the Japanese photographer Masao Yamamoto, titled Kawa.

The title of the serie, Kawa, means ‘flow’ and covers the idea of the world we are in now and the world we will know in the future. Yamamoto selects consequently words from the Japanese Buddhism as titles for his shows, which can be seen as the basic idea for his artworks.

The photographs in this exhibition display images of sudden encounters and mysterious phenomena we could come across on a walk through the woods. The artist captures images of an enchanted world that evokes dreams and memories. The real power of the works by Masao Yamamoto is that they make dreams possible.

Masao Yamamoto (°1957, Japan) is known for his experimental, blurred photographs with tenderly frayed edges, rips and bent corners that make every image look like an aged and damaged yet unique photograph. He is clearly not interested in conveying optical information with the highest technical standards, since his photographs are an ideal example for the refusal of this standardized perfection.

Originally, he is a trained painter. However, now he uses only photography as a tool for arresting and manipulating time to poetic images that evoke nostalgic memories with the viewer. His pictures look simplistic and well balanced but occasionally they push these formal elements succesfully to the edge.

As can be discovered in previous work by the artist, each image has a very autonomous touch but at the same time it seems to be inherently part of a universal visual language. Masao Yamamoto finds it difficult to describe his artworks; he wants the viewer not to understand the work but just to experience its formal qualities and references.

Although the work of Masao Yamamoto has already been shown in group exhibitions in the gallery, this is the first time Fifty One Fine Art Photography exhibits a solo show with his images.

Fifty One Fine Art Photography kindly invites you to the opening on Thursday the 7th of May.