Ryuzaburo Tagawa

"Frames"

December 25, 2011 through February 24, 2012 【Tokyo】

For this show Tagawa collected antique frames across the American West. He then photographed each from both the front and back. After adding color to the photographs and printing them on German fiber paper, he placed 2 photographs (front and back) into each frame.

Like the frames themselves, each set of photographs is one-of-a-kind. There are no editions. Though these playfully postmodern pieces are highly conceptual, they also have a striking visual impact.

At the opening reception, Tagawa will give a talk on the artist Howard Hodgkin, whose work he found to be a major inspiration.

Sam Soox

"WINDOWS"

July 7 – August 14. 2010 【Tokyo】
'Windows' is a new collaboration by Sam Soox and S.H.Contemporary. It features 70 framed photographs of 'windows' taken in Japan during Soox's recent 6-month residency at Kanto Art University. As with all of the artist's publications and exhibitions, Soox merely turned over his digital image data to the gallery, which selected the theme and pictures. The impetus for 'Windows' was a conversation between Seth High and Sam Soox about the artist's life-long attraction to windows. Soox's text, '50 Reasons Why I Love Windows' is a crucial part of the work itself.

Like the majority of Sam Soox's photographic work, the images of 'Windows' often attempt to explore the ways in which people engage with the natural world. Believing that pictures must simultaneously have 'social and aesthetic appeal', Soox also takes great care when composing his photographs - Critic Melissa Xu has gone as far as to call them 'social minimalism'. The works will be on view at S.H.Contemporary in Tokyo from July 7th through August 14th. Archival prints will be available in editions of 5. Contact the gallery for further information.

Janet Carson

"NEW WORK"

July 7 – August 14. 2010 【Tokyo】
Along with her recent lens drawings, S.H.Contmeporary presents a new performance piece by the acclaimed contemporary artist, Janet Carson. Titled 'Pose III', the work involves the artist going around the gallery with a digital camera during the exhibition opening party and asking people to pose for pictures. Like in all of her performances, no actual pictures will be taken. A video of the performance will be shown during the exhibition's entire run. Building on her controversial pieces 'Pose I' and 'Pose II', in which she maintained a constant photographer's stance in front of tourist sites for hours at a time, Carson, is interested in exploring how people behave with or in the presence of cameras.