Hirakawa
Noritoshi Hirakawa originally studied Applied Sociology and works today with photography, film, installation and performance. His works have been described as erotic, intimate and challenge mainstream views of sexuality as well the assumption that male desire is inherently exploitative, objectifying and oppressive towards women. The artist believes that human activities forms the culture in which we live today and proposes to push the boundaries of perception in order to expand the culture. In particular, he identifies the camera as "a very good excuse to connect men's and women's desires".
EXHIBITION (SELECTION)
Solo exhibitions
2014
Infinite Dance, Chi-Wen Gallery, Taipei, TW
2013
House of ourselves, Gallery VER, Bangkok, TH
2012
Conscience, réalité, In Situ - fabienne leclerc, Paris, FR
2011
Beyond the sunbeam through trees, Yamaguchi center for Arts and Media, Yamaguchi, JP
2010
The Returning of the Sun, Blum & Poe gallery, Los Angeles, Californie, US
2009
Seeking a Light, In Situ - fabienne leclerc Paris, France Unfold Universe, Chi-Wen Gallery, TW
An Attribute of Living, Gallery HAM, Nagoya, JP
Open Studio of Enola Carr, Live Performance, Rahmen, JP
Cringe, curated by Cecilia Jurado, Dean Project, Long Island City, NY, US
Vier zwei Eins, Newman Popiashvili Gallery, NY, US
2006
Nothing incomprehensible, Baukunst Galerie, Koeln, DE
Nankuzkan Uderground, Tokyo, JP
Vier zwei Eins, Baukunst Galerie, Koeln, DE
Chambre avec vues, FRAC des Pays de le Loire, Carquefou, FR
The Layers from Capital & Dawn of Felicity, Galerie Ferdinand Van Dieten, Amsterdam, NL
Pale Destiny, Mars Gallery, Tokyo, JP
Nagoya, Galerie HAM, JP
Subject / The Fruitful Wavers, In Situ - fabienne leclerc, Paris, FR
Subject, Salon 94, New York, US
2004
Zeno X, Anvers, BE
Subject, The Eric Arthur Gallery, University of Toronto, CA
Frieze Art Fair, Wrong Gallery, London, UK
2003
The strings of Light, BMW Group Pavilion, Munich, DE
Streams by the Wind, Kunsthalle Wien( Project room), Vienne, AT
Les temps de Rien à Montpellier, Noirmont Prospect, Paris, FR
The intent of gestures, Hermès Forum, Tokyo, JP
I am the Mother and I am the Daughter, Wako Works of Art, Tokyo, JP
The Manner of Living, Art & Public, Geneve, CH
2001
Galeria 1991, Lisbon, PT
An Inevitable Story as Coincidence, Magazin4 Vorarlberger Kunstverein, Bregenz, AT
2000
Le Murmure de la mer, ART & PUBLIC( Guest Room), Geneva, CH
The Echos in a Mirror, Kunsthalle St. Gallen, DE
Le Va et Viens, Galerie Serge Ziegler, Zurich, CH
Shiosai, Gallery HAM, Nagoya, JP
1998
Galleria Massimo De Carlo, Milan, IT
The Reason of Life, Deitch Projects, New York, US
The Flame of Wandering, Wako Works of Art, Tokyo, JP
Forty Years Behind Paris, Taka Ishii Gallery, Santa Monica, US
Garden of Nirvana, Deitch Projects, New York, US
Reconfirmation, Gabriele Rivet, Cologne, DE
La Vertu dans le Vice, Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris, FR
S, Centre d'art Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, CH
1996
A Window of Society, Hiroshima Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima / Ginza Komatsu Amuser, Tokyo, JP
Frostbite / Women, Children and Japanese, Wako Works of Art, Tokyo, JP
Complex of Pieter Bruegel, Zeno X Gallery, Anvers, BE
Why do the Japanese Dislike the Japanese ?, Gallery HAM, Nagoya, JP
A Destination of Ego, Galerie d'Eendt, Amsterdam, NL
L'Autre Permanent, Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris, FR
Khaosan Road, Rum, Malmo, SE
1994
Just Before the Last Moment in the Twentieth Century, American Fine Arts, Co., New York, US
Frostbite, Art & Public, Geneve, CH
Women, Children and the Japanese, Wako Works of Art, Tokyo, JP
1993
The Greatest, Gallery HAM, Nagoya, JP
Dream of Tokyo, Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main, Francfort, DE
Meanings Rely on your Attitude, Gallery Fukuyama, Tokyo, JP
A Temptation to be a Man, Galerie Marc Jancou (Project Room), Zuerich, CH
Je veux être Amoureux de Vous !, MA Galerie, Paris, FR
1991
Entropaia, Gallery Fukuyama, Tokyo, JP
To Become Dharma, de Vleeshal, Middelburg, US
Dreams of Tokyo, Galerie d'Eendt, Amsterdam, NL
1990
Frostbite, Galerie Surge, Tokyo, JP
Placebo is Missing, W139, Amsterdam, NL
1989
Entropaia, Citicorp Citibank Shinjuku, Tokyo, JP
Yearnings of Montezuma, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, TW
Influenza, Art Gallery of the Faculty of Painting, Sculpture and Graphic Art in Silpakorn University, Bangkok, TW
Passing Moments, Gallery Tamaya, Tokyo, JP
Out of Breath, Gallery Parergon II, Tokyo, JP
Group exhibitions
2017
En marge, In Situ - fabienne leclerc , Paris, FR
2013
Coeurs vaillants, une proposition de Damien Cadio, galerie Eva Hober, Paris, FR
2012
En plein air, Stux Gallery, New York, US
CAPC ou la vie saisie par l'art - CAPC - Musée d'art contemporain, Bordeaux, FR
Inside Installations - SMAK Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Gent, BE
2009
Quand la première ivresse des succès bruyants..., CAPC collection hors les murs, Château Guiraud, Sauternes, FR
Diana and Actaeon,The Forbidden Glimpse of the Naked Body,museum Kunst Palast, Duesserldorf, DE
The Fallen Angels, Watai-um Museum, Tokyo, JP
30 ans du Meymac, 30 ans - Pas nécessaire et pourtant indispensable, Abbaye Saint-André Centre d'art contemporain, Meymac, FR
Desire, Holster Projects, London, UK
Blumen/Flowers, Galerie Walter Keller, Zurich, CH
Wonderland, Tenderloin Neighborhood of San Fransisco, San Fransisco, US
2008
Darkside, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Winterthur, CH
Cringe, Dean Project, Long Island City, New York, US
Silence in the Light, Noritoshi Hirakawa, Hiroshi Sunairi, Arto Lindsay, Venetia Kapernekas Gallery, New York, US
An attribute of Living - Noritoshi Hirakawa - Patrick Van Caeckenbergh - Ann-Mie Van Kerchkoven - Cristof Yvoré, Zeno X Gallery, Anvers, BE
Noritoshi Hirakawa, Hiroshi Sunairi & Arto Lindsay / Joan Jonas, Wako Works of Art, Tokyo, JP
Reality crossings, 2nd International Photographe festival of Mannheim/Ludwigshafen, Kunsthalle Mannheim, Heidelberg, DE
Flash Cube, (curator : Henk Slager), Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, KR
Wako Works of Art: 15 years, Early and New Works - Part 1, Wako Works of Art, Tokyo, JP
Mulher, Mulheres, SESC Paulista, Sao Paulo, BR
Out of the loop, BICA, Brooklyn, New York, US
Lost Format, Art Space BE-part, Waregem, BE
Into me / Out of me, MACRO (Museo d'Arte Contemporanea), Rome, IT
Making a Home, Japan Society, New York, US
Vanishing Point - Contemporary Japanese Art, National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, IN
Silence in the Light, Venetia Karpernekas Gallery, New York, US
Loop 07, Barcelona, ES
Stripped bare. Der entbloesste Koerper. Fotografien aus der Sammlung Thomas Koerfer, C/O Berlin - The Cultural Forum of
Photography, Berlin, DE
Kunstfilmbiennale Koeln, Internationaler Wettbewerb, Kunstverein Koeln, DE
2006
Les peintres de la vie moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou (collection de la caisse des dépôts de Paris), Paris, FR
25 years Zeno X, Galerie Zeno X, Anvers, BE
Guenter Umberg, Haus Kontruktiv, Zurich, CH
Into Me / Out of Me, Kunst Werke, Berlin, DE
The Garden Party, Deitch Projects, New York, US
Sweet Ecstasy, Galerie Nicola Von Senger, Zurich, CH
Dark Places, The Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica, US
Femmes, The Area of Mont des Arts (organisation by Art of the World), Brussels, BE
Lichtkunst aus Kunstlitch, Museum fur Neue Kunst, DE
Don Giovanni, Ursula Blickle Stiftung, Kraichtal-Unteroewisheim, GE
Don Giovanni : Two plus two equals four, Kunsthalle de Vienne, Vienne, AT
Into Me / Out of Me, Moma PS1, Long Island City, New York, US
Baukunst Galerie Vier zwei Eins ( performance ), Baukunst Galerie, Cologne, DE
Taka Ishii Gallery( the viewing room), Tokyo, JP
Galerie Cornelius Pleser, Munich, DE
Maedels, Galerie Gabriele Rivet, Koeln, DE
2005
Femme(s), Museum Carouge, Geneve, CH
Go Inside, Triana Biennale, IT
Le mois de la photo, Montréal, CA
Dark Places, Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica, USA
Tirol Transfer, Krinzinger Projekte, Vienna, AT
The History of Japanese Photography, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, US
False Innocence, Fundacio Joan Miro, Barcelona, ES
Das Lebendige Museum, Museum fur Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, DE
Galerie Ferdnand van Dieten, Amsterdam, Holland Griedervonputtkamer, Berlin, DE
Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp, BE
2002
Formen Der Gewalt, Gabriele Rivet, Cologne, DE
Departures ( with Alfred Jaar), Torch, Amsterdam, NL
Composition of Desire ( with Vivan Sundaram), Galerie Ferdinand van Dieten, Amsterdam, NL
Desire (Curator : Peter Weiermair), Galleria D'Arte Moderna di Bologna, Bologne, IT
Magazin in Magazin, A Fruitful Wavers, Magazin4 Vorarlberger Kunstverein, Bregenz, AT
The Museum, the Collection, the Director and his Loves, Streams by the Wind, Museum fur Moderne Kunst, Francfort, DE
The Beauty of Intimacy, Gemeentemuseum, The Hague / Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Germany Kunstraum Innsbruck, Innsbruck, DE
The Overexcited Body, The Meditation of Insight, Museum of the Arengario, Piazza Duomo Milan, Italie SESC, Sao Paulo, BR
Desire (Curator : Peter Weiermair), Ursula Blickle Stiftung, Kraichtal-Unteroewisheim, DE
Dévoler, Institut d'art contemporain Villeurbanne, Villeurbanne, FR
Playgrounds & Toys for Children, Pacha Mama, United Nations Visitors Lobby, New York, US
Casino 2001, S.M.A.K., Gand, BE
Images et identités, CAPC Musée d'art Contemporain, Bordeaux, FR
2000
Cold Burn, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, JP
The Unseen, Whereabouts of affections, Galerie deux, Tokyo, JP
Galerie Ferdinand van Dieten, Amsterdam, NL
Elbow Room (Curator : Grady T. Turner), Kim Foster Gallery, New York, US
Cos-Play (Curators : Paul Donker Duyvis, Christine Sluysmans), Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam, NL
Contemporary Japanese Photography, De Pont Foundation, Tilburg, DE
Autowerke - European and American Photography 1998 - 2000, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, DE
Confession of a voyeur (Curator : Vasif Kortun), Dulcinea, Istanbul, TR
1999
Galerie Ferdinand van Dieten( with Paul Donker Duyvis), Amsterdam, NL
Spaceship Earth, The Silence of Signs, Art in General, New York, US
Sweet & Sour, Art & Public, Genève, CH
Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris, FR
Missing Link, Kunstmuseum Bern, CH
Transmute (Curator : Joshua Dector), Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, US
Shadows of the soul, Kunstcentrum de Boterhal, Hoorn, NL
Dehors - Dedans, CAPC Musée d'art Contemporain, Bordeaux, FR
Gallery HAM, Nagoya, JP
Singulier, Pluriel, FRAC des Pays de la Loire, Nantes, FR
A Girl Like You, Galerie Praz-Delavallade, Paris, FR
1998
ArtNation Projects, New York, US
Terminating Angel, Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Paris, FR
Where I am, Galeria Municipal Da Mitra, Lisbonne, PT
Zeno X Gallery, Anvers, BE
La Sphere de L'Intime, Do not be so close to be close, Le Printemps De Cahors, Cahors, FR
Voor het verdwijnt en daarna, S.M.A.K., Watou, BE
Fétiches/Fétichismes, Passage de Retz, Paris, FR
Diana 98, Memorable Memory, Palais X-tra, Zuerich, CH
Yesterday Begins Tomorrow: Ideals, Dreams, and the Contemporary Awakening, Center for Curatorial Studies Museum at Bard College,Annandale-on, Hudson, US
Bangkok Art Project 1998, Sabaai Chai Chai, Bangkok, TH
Zeno X Gallery, Anvers, BE
Light - Invisible Scene, Gallery NW House, Tokyo, JP
Absolute Landscape - Between Illusion and Reality, Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama, JP
AJAR, Galleri F15, Moss, NO
Lust und Leere - Japanische Photograhie Der Gegenwart (Curator : Peter Weiermair), Kunsthalle Wien, AT
Arken Museum for Moderne Kunst, Ishoj, DK
Kunsthalle Kiel, Kiel, DE
vis-à-vi[e]s, Galerie Art & Essai - Université Rennes 2, Rennes, FR
Love,etc., Galerie Esca, Nîmes, FR
Noritoshi Hirakawa & Philip Reilly, Galerie d'Eendt, Amsterdam, NL
Un bel été, Casino Luxembourg, LU
Truce: Echoes of Art in an Age of Endless Conclusions (Curator : Francesco Bonami), SITE Santa Fe, US
Biennale de Cétinie, ME
1996
Zeno X Gallery, Anvers, BE
Traffic, De l'autre côté du fleuve (Curator : Nicolas Bourriaud), CAPC Musée d'art Contemporain, Bordeaux, FR
Urgence, CAPC Musée d'art Contemporain, Bordeaux, FR
Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris, FR
E.S.Vandam, New York, US
Nudo & Crudo - sensitive body, visible body, Claudia Gian Ferrari Arte Contemporanea, Milan, IT
Non! Pas Comme Ça!, Centre d'Art Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, CH
Ideal Standard Life, Spiral, Tokyo, JP
Disneyland After Dark, Kunstamt Kreuzberg / Bethanien, Berlin, DE
Curriculum Vitae (Porto contemporary art day), Oporto'96, Oporto's Festival d'art contemporain, Institut Français de Porto, PT
Video arte del Japon - Maniaticos de la Desaparicion, Museo Nacional De Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, AR
Joint Ventures (Curator : Nicolas Bourriaud), Basilico Fine Arts, New York, US
Manics of Disappearance - Today's Japan as disseminator of video messages, Gallery 101, Ottawa, CA
Zeno X Gallery, Anvers, BE
Playpen & Corpus Delirium, Kunsthalle Zuerich, Zuerich, CH
a/drift : Scenes From the Penetrable Culture (Curator : Joshua Dector), Center for Curatorial Studies Museum at Bard College, Annandale-on Hudson, US
Images of women in Japanese Contemporary Art 1930's - 90's, Shoto Museum, Tokyo, JP
1995
Zeno X Gallery, Anvers, BE
Wako Works of Art, Tokyo, JP
Video Art Channel - Five Artists On File, NICAF Yokohama, Yokohama, JP
Shift (Aperto -95), De Appel, Amsterdam, NL
On Board (Aperto 95), (Curators : Jerôme Sans / Karin Schorm), Pronto, Pronto qui Radio Sega Venezia, Il Nuovo Trionfo (Riva San Biago), Venise, IT
Campo (Curator : Francesco Bonami), Corderie dell'Arsenale, Venice /Conferenza Stampa -Fondazione, Venise, IT
Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Per L'arte, Turin, IT
Konst Museet, Malmo, SE
Aperto-95: logiques imparables, Petit déjeuner dans la cuisine (Curator : Ami Barak), Garage JP (FRAC Languedoc- Roussillon), Conqueyrac, FR
Breakfast in the Kitchen, Zeno X Gallery (Anvers), Foire de Bâle, Bâle, CH
L'art d'Aimer - curiousitas érotica, Chez le Concierge, Sète, FR
Ripple Across the Water (Curateur : Jan Hoet), Koto- No- Owari, Aoyama,Tokyo, JP
Infra Sound (Curator : Jerôme Sans), Unvergessene Erinnerungen Vor Dem Vergesssen, Norddeutsche Landesbank,Hambourg, DE
Féminin, Masculin, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, FR
Orient / Ation -The Vision of Art in a Paradoxical World, 4th International Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul, TR
E.T. (Curator : Jay Koh), Chien Mai, JP
Of the Human Condition : Hope and despair at the End of the Century, Spiral, Tokyo, JP
A Vision of Japan for 21st Century, Sezon Museum of Art, Tokyo, JP
Refreshment, MA Galerie, Paris, FR
Per la Nostra Societa, ARS LUX, Bologne, IT
Commerce (Curator : Nicolas Bourriaud), Carré Saint-Nicolas (Résidence Secondaire), Paris, FR
Play Off, Art & Public, Geneva, CH
Gaze - L'Impossible transparence (Curator : Hou Hanru), Carré des Arts, Parc floral de Paris, FR
J'aime Regarder les Filles (Curator : Jean-Yves Jouannais), Galerie J.Moussion, Paris, FR
Les mémoires de l'authenticité, Galerie d'Eendt, Amsterdam,NL
A Long Life, Galerie HAM (Nagoya), Foire de Bâle, Bâle, CH
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, Art & Public (Geneva), Foire de Bâle, Bâle, CH
Inbetween (Project by Adem Yilmaz et Jarg Geismer), Duty Free, Archaeologischen Park, Xanten, DE
Biennale di Venezia, Pavillon Turc, Venise, IT
Art in America, Zeno X Gallery,Anvers, BE
Desert of Desire, The First Recognition to be an Adult, Spiral, Tokyo, JP
Adieu, les Frontières!, Art & Public Genève : Prospect 1986 - 1994, bob van Orsouw, Zuerich, CH
Museum fur Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main, Francfort, Germany
American Fine Arts, Co., New York, USA
Drops in the Atlantique, Neuvièmes Ateliers Internationaux des Pays de la Loire, Garenne Lemot, Clisson, FR
Prospect 93, A Temptation to be a Man, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Francfort, DE
Zeno X Gallery, Anvers, BE
Curator's Eye 93 : The Pandora that is Pandora's Box, Gallery NW House, Tokyo, JP
Partners, Galerie d'Eendt, Amsterdam, NL
And Nothing will Change, MA Galerie (Paris) , NICAF Yokohama, JP
Artists and AIDS, A Cup of Tea without Milk and Sugar, Henie-Onstad Art Center, Hovikodden, NO
MA Galerie( with Eric Duyckaerts), Paris, FR
Une (im)position: humainement votre..., FRAC Langedoc-Rousillon, Montpellier, FR
At Bedroom in the Middle of Night, A Flower and the Root, Art & Public (Geneva), Foire de Bâle, Bâle, CH
An Ending of Solo Drama, Breda Photografica 93, De Beyerd, Breda, DE
Before the sound of the beep (Curator : Jerôme Sans), The World has only One Order, Paris, FR
Trade Routes, Khaosan road, The New Museum, New York, US
In Between, Watanabe Emi No Namida No Kisha-Kaikan No Su-U-Jitsu-Mae Ni, The Floating Gallery, Tokyo, JP
Who Know Matter of Fact, Hôtel Carlton Palace, Chbre 763 (Curator : Hans-Ulrich Obrist), Paris, FR
Thoughts that fit like air, Dialogues for the Time Being for Being, Art & Public, Genève, CH
1992
Unchain My Heart, Galerie d'Eendt, Amsterdam, NL
25, American Fine Arts, Co. (New York), NICAF Yokohama, Yokohama, JP
Summer Becomes Eclectic, Mars gallery, Tokyo, JP
Oriental Spirit in Contemporary Zurich Flats, Raymond Ludi's flat, Zuerich, CH
Nouvelles Scènes, Atheneum, Dijon, FR
Troisième Biennale de Photographie de Rotterdam, Maddox, Rotterdam, NL
Zeno X Gallery (Antwerp), Foire de Cologne, DE
The 28th Artists Today, Yokohama City Gallery, Yokohama, JP
1991
Asakusae (Japan/Belgium Contemporary Art Exchange Exhibition), Asakusa old Kinryu school, Tokyo, JP
Orientation 50° Nord (Belgium/Japan Contemporary Art Exchange Exhibition), Cinquantenaire, Bruxelles, BE
Performance and theatre
2006
Vier zwei Eins, Baukunst Galerie, Koeln, DE
2005
In Search of a Purple Heart, Salon 94, NY, US
2003
Strings of Light, BMW Group Pavillion Muenchen, DE
2002
Shower in the Dark (Happening with Arto Lindsay), Deitch Projects, New York, US
2001
Les Temps de Rien à Montpellier, (Choregraphy with Didier Theron), Montpellier Danse 01, Montpellier, FR
2000
The Day after Yesterday, Hotel New York, PS1 Museum, New York, US
Où est-ce quelqu'un que j'espère ?, Les Soirées Nomades, Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain, Paris, FR
1998
Sufficiently Kinky (Happening with Arto Lindsay), Crossings - Kunst Zum Hoeren und Sehen, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienne, AT
Cabines de Bain, In the Same Pool (presented by Attitudes), Piscine de la Motta, Fribourg, CH
Heimweh Nach Der Heimat, Phase 2: Bildende Kuenstler im TAT, Das TAT, Francfort, DE
Shopping, Yohji Yamamoto / Deitch Projects, New York, US
Curatoring
1999
Tongue of Fingers II (Shelly Silver, Joe Davis, Man Ray, Kathy High, Lee Williams, Noritoshi Hirakawa), VOID, New York, US
The Conclusion of a Paradox (Panos Kokkinias, Michihisa Nagasaki, Gerard Byrne, Sieglinda Klupsch), Janine Gordon, Mark Woods, Maria Miesenberger), Venetia Kapernekas Fine Arts Inc., New York, US
Tongue of Fingers III (Camille Stancin, Jonas Mekas, Dan Asher, Lova Hamilton, Noritoshi Hirakawa), VOID, New York, US
1998
Tongue of Fingers (Kaoru Toyoda, Les Levine, Veronica Vega, Muntadas, Noritoshi Hirakawa), VOID, New York, US
1997
Dream of the Fisherman's Wife (Ricci Albenda, Eleanor Antin, Les Levine, Julian Opie,Dan Qing Chen), Sandra Gering Gallery, New York, US
Publications
1998
1994
Noritoshi Hirakawa 1988-94. Gallery HAM, Nagoya / Wako Works of Art, Tokyo.
The Greatest. Gallery HAM, Nagoya.
1991
To Become Dharma. De Vleeshal, Middelburg.
1990
No More Pains of Isaac Newton. Youbi-sha, Tokyo.
PUBLIC COLLECTION
Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main, Francfort, DE
capcMusée d'art contemporain de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, FR
Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama, JP
Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Per L'Arte, Turin, IT
Museum Van Hedendaagse Kunst Gent, Gand, BE
Watari - Um, Tokyo, JP
FRAC des Pays de la Loire, Nantes, FR
FRAC Languedoc-Roussillon, Montpellier, FR
Yves Klein Foundation, Arizona, US
BMW AG, Munich, DE
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Tokyo, JP
Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich, DE
Fonds minicipal d'art contemporain, Geneva, CH
Caisse des Dépôts, Paris, FR
Hauser & Wirth Museum, St. Gallen, CH
Kunstmuseum St.Gallen, St. Gallen, CH
Texts
Seeking a Light
Since opening in 1904, the subway system has been the life support system of New York City. Everyday, around 6 million people pass through its infrastructure, moving within 656 miles of tracks and through 468 stations.
Living here for fifteen years, I've noticed that New Yorkers have to rely on instinct and intuition in order to deal with this system. There is no schedule and no one can predict when the trains will arrive. Without a system announcing the train's arrival, like the mechanical signs found throughout the world, one is impelled to focus on the shadows of the tunnel awaiting the future.
The live act of waiting is tense yet spiritual. On the edge of tracks, people are meditative, perceiving a premonition from the darkness of the tunnel. They seek the lights of the subway car, like one looks into a spiritual palace expecting someone to appear in the light.
'Seeking a Light' was shot in the summertime of 2005 in various New York City subway station platforms the moment the trains were coming. One image is of the person waiting and the other image is the moment of light approaching.
Noritoshi Hirakwa
_______________________________________________
Streams By The Wind
- Heat Stroke
By Noritoshi Hirakawa
Heat Stroke is the second installment in a series of slide projections titled 'Streams By The Wind'. It consists of 80 images produced as slides and viewed in a narrative progression (through a slide projector with carousel 80 slides) without sound. Each installment in the series is an interaction between a man and a woman. These characters have conflicting traits, and are not restricted to predetermined dispositions. There is no such definition of good or evil, as is customary in much literature and film, as most real humans are much more complex than this. Each character is completely subjective, switching from what would be deemed good to acts that may be regarded as evil.
Noritoshi's goal with this project was to create new narratives that deviate from those in modern film and literature. He was interested in creating multidimensional characters that at each moment are in a dilemma as to what to do, and their actions are not character traits that fit a mold, but reaction to specific circumstance.
The title, 'Streams By The Wind' is in reference to this overall theme. The characters are caught up in the moment, as if autumn leaves caught in the gusts of wind, blown by the breeze, and their reactions are barely manageable.
'Heat Stroke' is the story of a father and a daughter. In the middle of the night the father, played by Michael Nader, is woke by the sounds of his daughter, Simone Collins. He thinks his daughter is sick, and goes to her room to help?
This slide projected installation was exhibited at Kunsthalle Wien in 2003 ( his work has never been exhibited at any commercial gallery or museum in US).
________________________________________________
Noritoshi Hirakawa
Subject / the fruitful wavers
April 16th, May 21th 2005
Through a series of photographs, Subject aims to shift perceptions of not only architectural photography, but architecture as a whole Subject illustrates that at times the true subject is not the building, nor structure nor assumed use of the space. Instead, the true subject is the humans and their individual and group interactions.
Noritoshi Hirakawa had taken these ideas of his to Thom Mayne, architect and founder of Morphosis, and discussed them further. It was at this point that Mayne proposed to collaborate with Hirakawa on the architectural photography project known as Subject.
The Graduate House in the University of Toronto provided the perfect composition in which the interaction of humans could be the main focus. The narrative nature of the photographs in Subject are supported by the psychological drama between the humans in the space. Humans incorporate the architecture as a part of their daily lives and Subject shows this true use of architecture in a series of fourteen duraflex prints (75×100 cm). Hirakawa and Mayne illustrate and believe that the consideration of human appropriation is utterly important not only in the photography, but in the creation of architecture as well.
