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Hiroshi Sugimoto

Through photography, sculpture, architecture and performance, Hiroshi Sugimoto manipulates the inexorable march of time and the vast mysteries of space, stalling the clock in order to create monumental forms from historically significant or fleetingly poetic moments. By approaching the artificial with an eye for the natural, in his realistic photographs of museum dioramas or waxworks, and vice versa, in his images of buildings or interiors that seem to melt all that is solid, Sugimoto proves his mastery as one of the world’s greatest artists and innovators of lens-based media. This concept-driven approach begins with the ideation of an image and is only completed upon the work’s execution, usually employing a large-format camera as his primary tool. 

Sugimoto’s rigorous and scientific approach to subject matter, whether capturing a bolt of electricity directly onto film or splitting light into its constituent colours, characterises his lifelong commitment to experimentation, which has seen the artist creating ambitious sculptural models and public commissions from seemingly impossible mathematical equations. His polymathic practice extends into architecture, through the New Material Research Laboratory he founded in 2008, producing innovative solutions for the future of the built environment using traditional means, methods and craftsmanship. In the following year, Sugimoto founded the Odawara Art Foundation with a similar aim, to further the heritage and appreciation of Japanese performing arts. In 2017 these multiple passions culminated in the Enoura Observatory, a site for performance, reflection and astronomical connection to the cosmos. This is also today the sole location of Sugimoto’s series of Seascape photographs, which captures equal halves of sea and sky above and below the horizon line on New Year’s Day, the only time in the calendar when no boats can be seen on the water. 

Hiroshi Sugimoto (b. 1948) lives and works between Tokyo and New York. Recent, major solo shows include Hiroshi Sugimoto: Time Machine, Hayward Gallery, London, UK (2023, touring to UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China, 23 March–23 June, 2024); Honkadori Azumakudari, The Shoto Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan (2023); The Descent of The Kasuga Spirit, Kasugataisha Museum, Nara (2022); Honkadori, Himeji City Museum of Art (2022). The previous decade saw important solo exhibitions including: Post Vitam, Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art, Kyoto, Japan (2020); Hiroshi Sugimoto, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel (2018); Surface of Revolution, Château de Versailles, France (2018); Still Life. Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels (2018); Gates of Paradise, Japan Society, New York, USA (2017); The Sea and The Mirror, Château la Coste, Provence, France (2017); Conceptual Forms and Mathematical Models, Phillips Collection, Washington DC, USA (2015); Glass Tea House – Mondrian, Le Stanze del Vetro, Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice (2014); Modern Times, Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Palazzetto Tito, Venice, Italy (2014); Aujourd'hui, le monde est mort [Lost Human Genetic Archive], Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France (2014); Past Tense, J. Paul Getty Museum at Getty Center, Los Angeles, USA (2014); Hiroshi Sugimoto, Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, South Korea (2013); Accelerated Buddha, Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent, Paris, France (2013). His awards include National Arts Club Medal of Honor (2018); Royal Photographic Society’s Centenary Medal (2017); Isamu Noguchi Award (2014); Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2013); Praemium Imperiale (2009); PHotoESPAÑA Prize (2006); Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography (2001); ICP’s Infinity Award (1999) and Mainichi Art Prize (1988).

 

New Material Research Laboratory

Enoura Observatory

 

Recent, current and forthcoming projects

'Hiroshi Sugimoto', UCCA Beijing, China (23 March - 23 June 2024)

'Giacometti/Sugimoto: Staged', The Giacometti Institut, Paris, France (5 April - 23 June 2024)

Lake Superior, Eagle River

Hiroshi Sugimoto
Lake Superior, Eagle River

2003
Gelatin-silver print
119.4 x 149.2 cm 
47 x 58 3/4 in
Ed. of 5

Palace Theater, Gary

Hiroshi Sugimoto
Palace Theater, Gary

2015
Gelatin-silver print
119.4 x 149.2 cm
47 x 58 3/4 in
Ed. of 5

Opticks 031

Hiroshi Sugimoto
Opticks 031

2018
Chromogenic print
119.4 x 119.4 cm
47 x 47 in
Ed. of 1

Lightening Fields 216

Hiroshi Sugimoto
Lightening Fields 216

2009
Gelatin-silver print
149.2 x 119.4 cm
58 3/4 x 47 in
Ed. of 5

Birds of South Georgia

Hiroshi Sugimoto
Birds of South Georgia

2012
Gelatin-silver print
119.4 x 185.4 cm
47 x 73 in
Ed. of 5

Sea of Japan, Oki

Hiroshi Sugimoto
Sea of Japan, Oki

1987
Gelatin-silver print
119.4 x 149.2 cm
47 x 58 3/4 in
Ed. of 5

Past Presence 075, Mlle. Pogany II, Constantin Brancusi

Hiroshi Sugimoto
Past Presence 075, Mlle. Pogany II, Constantin Brancusi

2016
Gelatin-silver print
149.2 x 119.4 cm
58 3/4 x 47 in
Ed. of 5

Opticks 025

Hiroshi Sugimoto
Opticks 025

2018
Chromogenic print
119.4 x 119.4 cm
47 x 47 in
Ed. of 1

Hyena-Jackel-Vulture

Hiroshi Sugimoto
Hyena-Jackel-Vulture

1976
Gelatin-silver print
119.4 x 149.2 cm
47 x 58 3/4 in
Ed. of 5

Gemsbok

Hiroshi Sugimoto
Gemsbok

1980
Gelatin-silver print
119.4 x 149.2 cm
47 x 58 3/4 in
Ed. of 5

Opticks 034

Hiroshi Sugimoto
Opticks 034

2018
Chromogenic print
119.4 x 119.4 cm
47 x 47 in
Ed. of 1

Mediterranean Sea, Cassis

Hiroshi Sugimoto
Mediterranean Sea, Cassis

1989
Gelatin-silver print
119.4 x 149.2 cm
47 x 58 3/4 in
Ed. of 5

Permian-Land

Hiroshi Sugimoto
Permian-Land

1992
Gelatin-silver print
119.4 x 185.4 cm
47 x 73 in
Ed. of 5

Studio Drive-In, Culver City

Hiroshi Sugimoto
Studio Drive-In, Culver City

1993
Gelatin-silver print
119.4 x 149.2 cm
47 x 58 3/4 in
Ed. of 5

Baltic Sea, Rugen

Hiroshi Sugimoto
Baltic Sea, Rugen

1996
Gelatin-silver print
119.4 x 149.2 cm
47 x 58 3/4 in
Ed. of 5

United Nations Headquarters

Hiroshi Sugimoto
United Nations Headquarters

1997
Gelatin-silver print
149.2 x 119.4 cm
58 3/4 x 47 in
Ed. of 5

In Praise of Shadow

Hiroshi Sugimoto
In Praise of Shadow

1998
Gelatin-silver print
149.2 x 119.4 cm
58 3/4 x 47 in
Ed. of 5

U.A. Playhouse, New York

Hiroshi Sugimoto
U.A. Playhouse, New York

1978
Gelatin silver print
119.4 x 149.2 cm
47 x 58 3/4 in
Ed. of 5

Voltaire

Hiroshi Sugimoto
Voltaire

1999
Gelatin-silver print
149.2 x 119.4cm
58 3/4 x 47 in
Ed. of 5

Conceptual Forms

Hiroshi Sugimoto
Conceptual Forms

2004
Gelatin-silver print
149.2 x 119.4 cm
58 3/4 x 47 in
Ed. of 5

Santela Monument

Hiroshi Sugimoto
Santela Monument

1998
Gelatin-silver print
149.2 x 119.4 cm
58 3/4 x 47 in
Ed. of 5

Museum Exhibitions

Exhibitions

  1. Hiroshi Sugimoto: Form Is Emptiness, Emptiness is Form - upcoming exhibition

    Hiroshi Sugimoto: Form Is Emptiness, Empti...

    15 November 2024 – January 2025

  2. Hiroshi Sugimoto: Optical Allusion - past exhibition

    Hiroshi Sugimoto: Optical Allusion

    2 May – 2 August 2024

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