© Masahisa Fukase Archives
© Masahisa Fukase Archives
© Masahisa Fukase Archives
Incapacitated after a careless fall in 1992 from which he never recovered, Masahisa Fukase died in 2012 without ever resuming his career as a photographer. Only now, years later, have his last works, focusing on “personal” and “play”, received major international acclaim.
This exhibition, Chromophotographic Game, is a fitting tribute to Fukase, who actively published colour photographs in magazines from the 1960s and virtually reinvented the concept of colour photography in the 1980s through pursuit of his own ideal of “Chromophotographic” (sotennen-shoku). Initially presented in the KYOTOGRAPHIE 2018 festival programme as the Japan-premiere retrospective Play, this career overview comprises the first public showing of his Chromophotographic Scenes (1985), in which he substituted Polaroid film for photographic paper, while also reprising his later-year series Private Scenes (Shikei) and Hibi, in which he hand-painted colour on black-and-white prints. The sheer scope and depth of these works by this previously under-appreciated artist reinstates Fukase as a major figure in modern Japanese photography.
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Masahisa Fukase
Masahisa Fukase was born in 1934 in Bifuka, Hokkaido. He graduated from the Department of Photography, College of Art, Nihon University. He worked at The Nippon Design Center and Kawade Shobo Shinsha Publishing before becoming a freelance photographer in 1968. His major work Raven has received high international acclaim. Beginning with his participation in the historical exhibition “New Japanese Photography”, which was held at the MoMA in 1974, Fukase has continued throughout his career to present work in various venues across the globe. Fukase was severely injured in an accident in 1992, and after struggling with health issues for over 20 years, passed away in 2012 at the age of 78. In 2017, his first posthumous retrospective, “l'incurable égoïste”, was held as part of Les Rencontres d’Arles in France. Fukase’s first retrospective in Japan, entitled “Play”, was held at the KYOTOGRAPHIE International Photography Festival in Kyoto. His first posthumous museum retrospective, “Private Scenes”, will be held from September 2018 at the Foam Museum in Amsterdam. The photobook Masahisa Fukase, which comprises of Fukase’s entire oeuvre, produced over the 40 years of his professional career, has been published in English and French by Editions Xavier Barra, and in Japanese by AKAAKA.
Related Event
- Talk Session (Language: Japanese)
- Tomo Kosuga (Masahisa Fukase Archives)
- Oct 27 Sat. 16:30-17:30
- Venue: FUJIFILM SQUARE
- Events require booking from following application.
Tomo Kosuga
Tomo Kosuga was born in Tokyo. He is the founder and Director of the Masahisa Fukase Archives. He began his research on Fukase’s works around 2000. After Fukase’s death, and at the request of his family, Kosuga established the Masahisa Fukase Archives in 2014. In addition to the archiving of Fukase’s works, Kosuga also engages in curating exhibitions as well as editing and writing texts for publications. He has also been involved in organizing a variety of exhibitions as an art producer, and as a writer with a focus on photographic expression has contributed texts to numerous media that serve to articulate discourses regarding contemporary conditions surrounding Japanese photography. His curated or co-curated exhibitions include Masahisa Fukase “Private Scenes” (Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam, 2018), Masahisa Fukase "Play" (KYOTOGRAPHIE, 2018), Masahisa Fukase “l'incurable égoïste” (Les the Rencontres d’Arles, 2017), and Masahisa Fukase “The Incurable Egoist” (Diesel Art Gallery, 2015), among others. He is the producer and author of the publication Masahisa Fukase (released in English and French by Editions Xavier Barra and in Japanese by AKAAKA).
- FUJIFILM SQUARE
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7-3 Akasaka, 9-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 107-0052, Japan (Tokyo Midtown)
Directly connected to Hibiya Line “Roppongi” station underground passage
Directly connected to Oedo Line “Roppongi” station from exit 8
Chiyoda Line “Nogizaka” station. 5 min on foot from exit 3