IBASHO’s first exhibition of 2020 is one with Ariko Inaoka and Sean Lotman. Ariko Inaoka and Sean Lotman are wife-husband on a “parallel” course with geographic “crossings” in their photographic aesthetic. A good reason to title the exhibition as follows: Parallel Crossings.
Ariko Inaoka (1975, Kyoto, Japan) not only pursues personal photographic projects but also manages her family business, her ancestral restaurant in Kyoto that has been running since 1465. Inaoka’s series Eagle and Raven that will be on display at IBASHO Gallery, was created in Iceland, a place where Inaoka connects with her childhood memories. When she first visited the country it felt like returning home and the Icelandic landscape and atmosphere reminded her of the Kyoto from her childhood. The twins Eagle and Raven (Erna and Hrefna in Icelandic) have been the subjects of Inaoka’s series over a period of nine years. Fascinated by the strong harmony between the two girls, Inaoka saw similarities between the twins’ telepathic connections and the Shintoïst belief that kami (‘God’) exists in all elements. The twins’ statement that they “dream the same dreams” became the Leitmotiv in the series Eagle and Raven. The accompanying book Eagle and Raven is being published by Akaaka and will be launched during the exhibition.
Sean Lotman (born in Los Angeles, US) has lived in Japan, first in Tokyo, then in Kyoto, since 2003. Originally a writer of fiction, Lotman is interested in the narrative potential of photography and more specifically how photography can tell surreal stories. Being an American in Japan, Lotman decided to deploy Japanese geography, people and culture to create his own imaginative, often whimsical, interpretation of his new homeland. In his series Sunlanders, on display at IBASHO Gallery, Lotman portrays a land of people and places not as they are, but as they never could be. Also works from Lotman’s other series The Sniper Paused So He Could Wipe His Brow, Middle Life Notes and Lost in Space will be exhibited. Lotman’s books Sunlanders (2016) and Middle Life Notes (2019) will be available in the bookshop of IBASHO Gallery.
The exhibition runs until 8 March 2020. IBASHO is a gallery in Antwerp showing fine art Japanese photography as well as works from Western photographers who were inspired by Japan. The gallery is opened from Thursday until Sunday from 14.00 till 18.00 and by appointment.
Source: IBASHO
