HackelBury Fine Art - Masao Yamamoto

(b. Japan 1957)

"I live everyday, feeling deities in all and sundry, trying to always be in appreciation of them. Perhaps this is the aesthetic of my life. And since photography for me is equivalent to the very basic living necessities, such as food and sleep, this aesthetic applies to that of my photography. Though I am not sure if this is any kind of 'philosophy'... What originally had been produced in the process of my enjoying life though 'the search after beauty' was, at some point, sublimated into something worthy of presentation to you and other viewers."

You can read more about Masao Yamamoto below, or go straight to the image gallery.

To find out more about this artist or arrange to view the works in person please contact katestevens@hackelbury.co.uk

My Installation

When looking at my installation, I would like the viewer not to try to understand. Rather, as a landscape, for example, please just view or take a look. Haiku Moment is a translation of the moment when a haiku takes shape, and it is probably a moment that comes to you suddenly, striking your feelings. Likewise, my installation often reveals its story in front of my eyes at the last minute before the de-installation. It is difficult, however, to describe it by words.

Nakazora

In recent years, I have presented a series of work under the title of "A Box of Ku." It is not that after the emergence of this title those works were produced, but that "A Box of Ku" came naturally to me afterwards, facing those photographs that were taken also very naturally. After almost seven years, however, since I started to use this title, my works have, through subtle changes, started to become something that does come after the title of "A Box of Ku." To my wonder, it sometimes really happens that a name or title, which is originally derived from the object's atmosphere or characteristic, comes in the long run to identify the object itself. I don't dislike the idea, but do dislike it to bind me. Because of this (or simply because I am bored of this old title), I picked up the new one, "Nakazora." The basic idea, coming from the same person, remains the same. Although there is no drastic change between me under "A Box of Ku" and under this new title "Nakazora," I think I do have a slightly different feeling now. It is as if someone somehow starts feeling like wearing yellow clothes, after a while when he hugged gray ones. When the idea of makimono-style book was realized, the word of "Nakazora" protruded from somewhere and settled itself as the title of the book. This book, I believe, is just an entrance to the world of "Nakazora." How this title and I will be collaborating in the coming future...it amazes me.
I would like "Nakazora" to be thought of not as a title with some definite meaning, but rather as a word to somehow describe my feelings at that time. I don't have a reason to explain why it has to be "Nakazora," just as I didn't have a reason for "A Box of Ku" either.
I have a feeling that "Nakazora" represents a broader space than "A Box of Ku." More vaguely, more ambiguously, and still more obscurely, but yet a distinctive scent is there floating. It would be a delight for me if this "Nakazora" turns to be such a thing as to leave the viewers, including myself, a drop of that floating scent.

Dictionary definition of Nakazora

The space between sky and earth, the place where birds, etc. fly. Empty air.. An internal hollow. Vague. Hollow. Around the center of the sky. Or, emptiness. A state when the feet do not touch the ground. Inattentiveness. The inability to decide between two things. Midway. The center of the sky (the zenith). A Buddhist term.

INDIVIDUAL EXHIBITIONS:

2005 [é], PDX CONTEMPORARY ART, Portland
CRAIG KRULL GALLERY, Santa Monica
2004 [é], STEPHEN WIRTZ GALLERY,San Francisco
Nakazora, PDX, Portland
Nakazora, CRAIG KRULL GALLERY, Santa Monica
2003 Nakazora, DANIELA FACCHINATO IMAGE GALLERY, Bologna, Italy
Nakazora, Chiesa dei SS.Jacopo e Filippo, Certaldo, Italy
Omizuao, YANCEY RICHARDSON GALLERY , New york
Nakazora, JACKSON FINE ART, Atlanta
Santoka, GALLERY SINCERITE,Toyohashi
2002 Nakazora, S.K.JOSEFSBERG STUDIO, Portland
Nakazora, CRAIG KRULL GALLERY, Santa Monica
2001 Nakazora, YANCEY RICHARDSON GALLERY, NewYork
2000 A Box of "Ku" XI , SEPIA INTERNATIONAL , NewYork
A Box of "Ku" XI , SPIRAL GALLERY , Tokyo
1999 A Box of" Ku" X, GALLERY SINCERITE,Toyohashi
A Box of" Ku" X, JACKSON FINE ART, ATLANTA
1998 A Box of" Ku" X, STEPHEN WIRTZ GALLERY,San Francisco
1997 A Box of" Ku" IX, KOHJI OGURA GALLERY, NAGOYA
A Box of" Ku" IX,SHAPIRO GALLERY,San Francisco
1996 A Box of" Ku" VIII, Yancey Richardson Gallery,NewYork
1995 A Box of" Ku" VI, Gallery NAYUTA,Yokohama
1994 A Box of" Ku" IV, PARCO,Kichijyoji
A Box of" Ku" V , SHAPIRO GALLERY,San Francisco
1993 A Box of" Ku" I, GALLERY WHITE ART,Tokyo
A Box of" Ku" II, HOSOMI GALLERY ,Tokyo
A Box of" Ku" III, GALLERY SINCERITE,Toyohashi

GROUP EXHIBITIONS:

2003 Japanese Photography 1970's-1980's, S.K.JOSEFSBERG STUDIO, Portland
2000 'Chorus of Light' Photographs from the Sir Elton John Collection , High Museum of Art,
Atlanta
1999 Modena per la Fotografia 1999 , Modena, ITALIA
HOLND FSTVL, AMSTERDAM, HOLLAND
1998 "Waterproof" EXPO'98 LISBOA
MEDIALOGUE Photography in Contemporary Japanese Art '98 , Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography
UNDER/EXPOSED , Stockholm
1996 Ten Year Anniversary Exhibition, Lisa Sette Gallery,Scottsdale
Contemporary Japanese Photography,JACKSON FINE ART,Atlanta
1995 The 1st Tokyo International Photo Biennale,A Box of" Ku" VII
A Box of" Ku" VII, Lisa Sette Gallery , Scottsdale
A Box of" Ku" VII, Catherine Edelman Gallery , Chicago
1994 "Flower Studies" SHAPIRO GALLERY , San Francisco
"intimate memories" A.O.I Gallery , Santa Fe
1990 "SPIRAL Take Art Collection" Aoyama Spiral Gallery, Tokyo
1988 FOTOFEST '88, Huston, U.S.A.
"New From Tokyo 11 Japanese Photographers"
"Japanese Avantgardo" Ken Damy Gallery, Mirano, Itary
"New Age Art Exhibition", Shinjuku Isetan department store, Tokyo
1987 Torino International Photo Biennale , Torino , Italy

COLLECTIONS:

Museum Contemporary of Photography , Chicago
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
The International Center of Photography, New York
Center for Creative Photography
Princeton University Art Museum, NJ
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, CA
Portland Art Museum, OR, USA
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
2003 Omizuao, Nazraeli Press, U.S.A.
2003 Santoka, Harunatsuakifuyu Sousho , Japan
2002 The Pass Of Green Leaves, Nazraeli Press, U.S.A.
2001 Nakazora, Nazraeli Press, U.S.A.
1998 A box of ku, Nazraeli Press, U.S.A.

Back to top of page

All prices are subject to change without notice and availability is subject to prior sale. Please call or email the gallery for current pricing & availability. Thank you!