Asako Narahashi

'half awake and half asleep in the water'

Opening: Friday, 12 September, 6-9 pm
The artist will be present.

September 12 – November 6, 2008
Tu–Fr 1-6 pm, and by appointment

We are pleased to present the series 'half awake and half asleep in the water' by the Japanese artist Asako Narahashi in her first one-person exhibition in Europe.

The series of this Tokyo-born artist (1959) was made since the year 2000 on the coasts of Japan, and shows in unusual landscape photographs a new view of this country. Standing half in water, or swimming, Asako Narahashi photographed modern civilization as well as the characteristic symbols of Japan, such as Fuji Mountain, in connection with water. The exhibition shows a selection of color photographs from the series as well as to date still unpublished black-and-white photographs.

An unexpected connection between water and land arises from the position of the photographer. With the changing sea in the foreground, each picture illustrates a new perspective of the coastal landscape.

The title of the series points to an ambivalence of feeling illustrated by the images. The photographs describe a state somewhere between the pleasant feeling of floating in the water and the simultaneous danger of succumbing to its tremendous force.

'The images are convincing not only because of the unusual point of view, but also through an unusual ambivalence and poetry. Fascination and fear, liquidity and hardness -- the water which continuously surrounds us remains in Narahashi's photography somewhat mysterious and, finally, inexplicable. On the other hand, the land visible in the distance signalizes familiar safety.' (Anna Gripp, in Photonews, 2/08)

The work of the artist became internationally known last year through the monograph 'half awake and half asleep in the water,' published by Martin Parr. Work from the series was in previous years shown in group exhibitions here and abroad, among other venues this Spring in 'Heavy Light. Recent Photography and Video from Japan', ICP, New York; 'Japan Caught by Camera: Works from the Photographic Art in Japan', Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai; 'Japan Contemporary Ceramics and Photography', Deichtorhallen, Hamburg; 'Black Out, Contemprary Japanese Photography', Tokyo, Paris, Rome

1959 born in Tokyo. 1989 Degree in Visual Arts at Waseda Universität. 1990 founding of the independent photo-gallery '03Fotos' in Tokyo. From 1996-2000 publisher of the photo magazine 'Main' together with Miyako Ishiuchi.

 

 

Biography

1959	Born in Tokyo

Education

1989	Graduates from faculty of art, Waseda University, majoring in art
1990	Opens her independent photo gallery "03FOTOS" in Tokyo
1996-2000	Publishes the photography magazine ‘main’ togethe with Miyako Ishiuchi

Solo Exhibitions

2008	half awake and half asleep in the water, Galerie Priska Pasquer, Cologne, Germany
	half awake and half asleep in the water, Yossi Milo Gallery, NY, USA
2007	half awake and half asleep in the water 06/07, Zeit-Foto Salon, Tokyo, Japan
2006	after funifun, Gallery Tohsei, Tokyo, Japan
2005	half awake and half asleep in the water 04/05, Zeit-Foto Salon, Tokyo, Japan
2004	half awake and half asleep in the water, Lee ka-sing Gallery, Toronto, Canada
	half awake and half asleep in the water, BankART1929, the Hall of Basyamichi, Yokohama, Japan
2003	funiculi funicula, photographers' gallery, Tokyo, Japan
	half awake and half asleep in the water 2003, il tempo, photographers' gallery, Tokyo
2002	half awake and half asleep in the water, il tempo, photographers' gallery, Tokyo, Japan
	KABUKINOKUNI 02, photographers' gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2001	Nu-E Misterijas dokumentalitate, Latvijas Fotografijas Muzejs, Riga, Letonia
	Recent works, 03FOTOS, Tokyo, Japan
2000	Kabukinokuni, Studio Ebis Photo Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1999	NU-E-selected in Tokyo, il tempo, photographers' gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1998	Island City Town KABU-KU, BERG, 03FOTOS, Tokyo, Japan
	NU-E, The Third Gallery Aya, Osaka
1997-92	NU-E, series, 03FOTOS, Tokyo, Japan
1997	piece, Oregon-Moon Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1990	Mata Yuku Hito, 03FOTOS, Tokyo

Group Exhibitions

2008	Heavy Light: Recent Photography and Video from Japan, ICP (International Center for Photography), New York, USA
2007	Japan Caught by Camera: Works from the Photographic Art in Japan, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
	Art of Water, The Museum of Modern Art Ibaraki, Ibaraki Präf., Japan
	Fascination, Nihonbashi Takashimaya Gallery X, Tokyo, Japan
2006	rapt! 20 contemporary artists from Japan, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne, Australia
	Double 6 - six occuring dialogues, Lee Ka-sing Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2005	GAW part 4, Plastic Model, Tokyo, Japan
	arteLanzarote, III Encuentro Bienal 2005, MICA Lanzarote, Islas Canarias
	85/05 ; The photography beyond 20 years from Tsukuba Museum of Photography 1985, Sendai Mediatheque, Miyagi, Japan
2004	Yokohama Syashine, The BankART 1929, Yokohama, Japan
	A prize exhibition of shashin-no-kai [society of photograph], PLACE M, Tokyo
	A rose of eternity - A homage to Hideo Nakai, Gallery Okyurusu, Tokyo, Japan
2003	IMAGINE Narahashi Asako and Kaihatsu Yoshiaki, Parthenon Tama (Tama City Cultural Foundation), Tokyo, Japan
	JAPAN Contemporary Ceramics and Photography, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany
	Tama Vivant 2003, Tokyo/Kyoto, Japan
	Black out, Contemporary Japanese Photography", Tokyo
	Black out, Contemporary Japanese Photography", Paris, France
2002	Black out Contemporary Japanese Photography", Rome, Italy
	Photonesia Ryukyuretsuzo, Okinawa, Japan
	Kiss in the dark, Marugame Genichiro Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art, Kagawa, Japan
2001	Kiss in the dark, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Japan
	GAW part 3, Aomori, Japan
2000	GAW part 2, Yamaguchi, Japan
1999	TONPU- 8 photographers in Japan, 051 Gallery, Pusan, Korea
1998	Photography Today; The Absence of Distance, National Film Centre, The National Museum of Modern Art , Tokyo, Japan
	Women photographer’s eyes 1945-1997, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Japan
1996-95	Another Reality; Aspects of Contemporary Photography, Kawasaki City Museum, Kanagawa, Japan
1992	Umaretuki no Hiru to Yoru, part of ASG Garanya Final Exhibitions, Nagoya, Japan

Awards

2008	24th Higashikawa Domestic Photographer Prize
2004	Award by the ‘Shashin no kai’ (Society of Photography)
1998	Award “New member Prize” of the ‘Nihon Shashin Kyokai’ (Photographic Society of Japan)

Bibliography

2007	'half awake and half asleep in the water', Nazraeli Press, Portland
2004	'FUNICULI FUNICULA', published by Sohkyu-sya, Tokyo
1997	'NU-E', published by Sohkyu-sya
1996-2000	'main' (independent photo magazine, published together with Miyako Ishiuchi)