By Rinko Kawauchi
Located in Zurich, CH
Rinko Kawauchi
Untitled, from the series 'Illuminance', 2009
C-print
Image 19,7 x 29,8 cm (7 3/4 x 11 3/4 in.)
Sheet 25,4 x 30,5 cm (10 x 12 in.)
Frame 26,5 x 31,5 x 2,5 cm ( 10 3/8 x 12 3/8 x 1 in.)
Edition of 6 (#1/6)
Reminiscent of Japanese photography of the 1960s Rinko Kawauchi’s work is the search for the sublime amid the banal. Her series ‘HANABI’ (Japanese term for ‘firework’) depicts the photographer's vision of a fireworks show. The breezes of summer nights, the footsteps of children running alongside a riverbank, clouds portending warm showers and the sweet smell of apple candy are at powerfully nostalgic, at once both beautiful and melancholy. We are drawn in by a dance of lights and colors, and in the blink of an eye, an elegant and sensory party draws to a close, leaving us wondering what Kawauchi saw in the fireworks, and what lies beyond them.
Kawauchi, currently one of the most famed contemporary female Asian artists...
Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Color Photography