Masao YamamotoKAWA
September 5 - October 25, 2009
KAWA means river and symbolizes human existence in Japanese culture. For the photographer KAWA manifests itself in nature, in which he searches for and finds his motifs. It is less topographic detail or the physical phenomenon that interests him, Yamamoto gravitates to the voice of the nature of his motifs: “I focus my gaze on the clouds, but actually I am occupied by something else.” And therefore the uncertain Other clings to his images, which the viewer can only discern with difficulty; the copies of reality have an aura.
Yamamoto’s nature is simple, clear, and unaffected. Despite the formal clarity many of his images possess an ambiguity that effects what the photographer intends: giving the viewers space for their thoughts and dreams, for free association and meditation. The viewer should feel pleasure, even moments of happiness, in the landscape of the soul that opens itself up. To ensure the ambiguity, Yamamoto avoids titling his photographs, instead he numbers them.
Yamamoto Masao compares his work to Japanese haiku. This three line, 17-syllable poem (5/7/5) describes a precisely observed natural phenomenon in its unique situation and represents it with its associated feeling without explicitly naming it. Yamamoto’s photographs are one the one hand the expression of his sentiments in the presence of nature; on the other hand, they invite the viewer to engage themselves in a state of mind which attunes itself as it delves into the images. The themes of these images are only superficially natural landscapes; in reality they are simplicity, serenity, tranquility, and happiness.
Yamamoto's understanding of art is influenced by the Zen teachings of "active passivity" that serves self-discovery and the development of a deep awareness of the universe and the earth. “KAWA is about the world we are in and the world we are going to. Though it seems that we are always connected to everything, there is still a disconnect between us and those who went before us and those that will come after,”says Yamamoto, and understands the fracture as a river that divides the plane, marking the transition from one world to another. Such fractures express his installations, in which individual images join into a whole; each print stands on its own and is also an element of the composition.
The photos are small, personal, sized as takeaways. Some of them appear yellowed or are intentionally worn and wrinkled; they are designed to arouse a sense of memory, age, and mortality. In previous exhibitions, the prints were loose in a box, the viewers should "grasp" them and determine the viewing order themselves. Yamamoto’s unconventional handling of the medium of photography allows us to experience the subtle, mysterious poetry of his work.
The Forum für Fotografie shows around 50 individual photographs in the exhibition in addition to photographic installations. KAWA is the third group of works by Yamamoto Masao after A Box of Ku (A box of emptiness) and Nakazora (The space between heaven and earth).
Estella Kühmstedt (Translation by Thea Miklowski)
Yamamoto Masao was born in Gamagori City, Japan, in 1957. Before taking up photography he studied painting. He lives and works as a freelance photographer in Yamanashi, near Tokyo. While he is already an established artist in the United States and his works have been shown there often since the ’90s, he is only beginning to be discovered in Germany.
At the Kunstmeile Süd events on September 6, Yamamoto Masao will hold a lecture on his work at 12:00 noon at the Forum für Fotografie. The artist will be present at the opening on September 5 at 4:00 p.m.
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