Rinko Kawauchi à la Photographers' Gallery
Le 2011-10-05 18:22:57

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Although this is Rinko Kawauchi's (b. Shiga, Japan, 1972) first UK exhibition, she has had, and continues to have, a prolific publishing profile. In a matter of a few years she published around six significant books featuring different series of her work including: Aila(2004); Hanabi(2001); Utatane(2001); Hanako(2001); Cui Cui(2005) and the eyes the ears (2005). Anne Tucker points out that this is not unusual because, "photographic monographs have been pivotal to the evolution of photographic aesthetics in Japan and in the distribution of Japanese photographs outside the country." (The History of Japanese Photography(Yale University Press, 2003)). There is something inherently immediate in the book format that revolves around the dynamic sequencing of images. It also has an inevitable episodic nature to it that presents photographers' work in logical and time specific series. However, the exhibition format allows Kawauchi to articulate connections across series of work, which UK audiences haven't previously been able to witness. Although most of the work inthis exhibition keeps to distinct series, there are notable moments when Kawauchi has chosen to combine works that have never been shown so closely together before, alongside completely new work that she has produced for this exhibition. It is clear in the selection that Rinko sees her work as an almost inexhaustible archive of images with an endless number of potential articulations. Her working process combines a rigour with an instinctive responsiveness that lends her photographs a lightness of touch. At times she takes an almost anthropological approach, presenting butterflies and moths, fish and turtles, snakes and giraffes, alongside close-up shots of icicles and plants. She combines this with images that capture more momentary events that would be hard to contrive: images of animals in the landscape, of waterfalls and forests. Kawauchi says: "For a photographer, it's a necessity that you can shoot stuff magically. Accidents are necessary, but after Itake a photograph, it is not over. Iwork on it more." She suggests that the editing and presentation of the work is as important to the final image as composing and taking the photograph. The flow of Rinko's images echoes the cycle of nature as much as her subject matter focuses on both the natural world and humans' place within it. She has at times presented her work alongside her own haiku poetry. Both forms seek to present the awe in the everyday and highlight moments that at first seem commonplace but which reveal a wider significance. Her images of the moment of a child or animal's birth, her tender portraits of people suffering from illness and of vibrant, but fleeting moments such as bright fireworks that briefly light up the night sky before their ashes fall back to earth have a lyrical rhythm to them creating a visual form of poetry. Perhaps her most overtly personal body of work to date is Cui Cui. This mesmerising series of over 50 images was taken at momentous family events, over 12 years, from weddings and births to haunting yet mundane moments of quiet reflection. Exhibited as a slide show, with its ambient soundtrack of sounds from nature – and the birdsong from which the title is taken – the work has a sobering effect on the viewer that at once reveals the fragility of our lives whilst celebrating the beauty experienced when reflecting on the joy and tragedy of the human condition. With thanks to Rinko Kawauchi, Masakazu Takei from FOIL and Andrew Leslie from Cohan and Leslie New York. The Bookshop will showcase anumber of Japanese books alongside this exhibition. Camilla Brown, Exhibition Curator © 2005 Rinko Kawauchi, Courtesy Rinko Kawauchi Office, Tokyo and Cohan and Leslie, New York

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