Exhibition Review: Hisaji Hara at Michael Hoppen Gallery

Contemporary photography is going back to its artistic roots reminiscing paintings as its source of inspiration. Many notable photographers such as Tom Hunter and Peter Lindbergh’s ‘Portrait of a Lady’ editorial of Julianne Moore in Harper’s Bazaar [1] have used historical art references to build their photographic ideas; so it is refreshing to see emerging Japanese photographer, Hisiji Hara convert paint to pixels [2]. Hara bases his exhibiting series at the Michael Hoppen Gallery on Polish-French 20th century artist Balthus stating he wanted to explore ‘authenticity’ which he believed his paintings possessed [3]. Although Hara uses the painter’s original compositions, his interpretation are culturally and visually laudable in their own right [4]. This is the first time that Hara’s work has been exhibited in Europe [5] where Western contemporary art is slowly embracing photography of the East and it is encouraging to see portraiture capturing a timelessness to a wider audience which he recreates from his meticulous approach. Though it is interesting and beneficial knowing the background to the image, what the viewer reads and feels is all in the foreground. First notions are that his work is sexually suggestive, atmospherically staged and the viewer later realize it’s a beautifully dark portrayal of childhood innocence and mature eroticism and the transition between the two. Exploring themes such as this has created mixed interpretations of his work leaving a lasting impression on the viewer; one cannot figure out the entirety of his work in one glance, it takes absorbing the whole room first to get a feel for his portraits which is most enjoyable for the voyeur.

 [FIG. 1] © Hisaji Hara, ‘A Study of ‘The Room’’, 2009

Veysey, Iris; ‘In Review: Hisaji Hara at the Michael Hoppen Gallery’ on ‘Vignette Magazine’; Available at: http://www.vignettemagazine.com/exhibitions-events/in-review-hisaji-hara-at-the-michael-hoppen-gallery/

Reviews of this work have stated Hara puts the viewer in a voyeuristic role with compositions such as ‘A Study of ‘The Room’’ [Fig. 1, above] where we are looking through an ajar door as if we were the photographer. Though this isn’t present in the original [Fig. 2, below], Hara embodies the expression of Balthus’ paintings rather than copy every minute detail; Hara puts his own twist. While the viewer may feel prurient and slightly naughty looking at young girls in short skirted school uniforms the atmosphere in the purposely aged photographs is soft and ethereal challenging the notions associated with voyeurism. The contrast between the two is most compelling yet at times unsettling as we are charmed by the instant beauty but contradicted by society’s view of representations of young girls. Hara states that ‘If you can see the mixture of innocence and eroticism in my series and be unsettled by it, that is because you are seeing our unavoidable antinomy. And that is very beautiful and important for me.’ [6] He also mentions that ‘eroticism’ roots to our physical existence and that ‘innocence’ reflects our spiritual existence and how they both represent two opposing sides of our actuality. He believes Balthus had challenged this and forced the viewer to ‘listen’ to their spiritual side and not necessarily be overwhelmed by our physical self. Modern thought (our physical existence) associates short skirts with sexual desire and thus transforms the girl into an object. As Laura Mulvey puts it; ‘pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female’ (Mulvey 1992, 27). [7] This can clearly be seen in [Fig. 1] and ‘A study of ‘Because Cathy taught him what she learnt’’ where there is a man leaning above the girl who is kneeling on the floor. Balthus said that he painted little girls because "women, even my own daughter, belong to the present world, to fashion" [8] thus creating a timelessness that children possess [9].

[FIG.2] Balthus; ‘The Room’, 1953

‘The Room’ on ‘Wikipaintings’; Available at: http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/balthus/the-room

Admittedly it was Guy Bourdin’s exhibition at Michael Hoppen Contemporary that was the main attraction however wandering downstairs to find a small room displaying Hara’s 20’s styled portraits juxtaposed the feeling from Bourdin on the top floor. Hara’s girls possessed a soft innocence where the viewer feels enchanted to gaze longer; a contradictory character to Bourdin’s women who were powerfully sexual and demanded your attention in a loud manner. After viewing Bourdin’s colourful work first, made Hara’s black-and-white portraits become more captivating and somehow delicate especially his depiction of young females. Perhaps the Gallery purposefully chose two dissimilar styles to exhibit at the same time that both shared a theme of underlying sexuality to impact the viewer further more.

Another prominent piece that makes ‘A Photographic Portrayal of the Paintings of Balthus’ so beautiful is Hara’s painstaking approach to recreate the original compositions using a medium format film involving elaborate set up and technicalities. The disquieting serenity is due to Hara’s scrupulous staged tableaux which is becoming a prominent art form in modern photography. Today’s society is engrossed in digital post-production manipulation [10] thus rendering old-fashioned film a dying medium however Hara prefers the labour intensive approach using multiple exposures and a smoke machine that enhances the misty atmosphere and sense of depth. He does so by using a matte box and cardboard screens altering the perspective. With a foggy set up the exposure time would vary from 1 – 10 seconds reminiscing the long periods an artist would need to paint his subject. Again Hara embodies not only the composition of Balthus’ paintings but encompasses a painters approach too. Also the traditional means and soft focus prompt similarities to the Pictorial era [11] enriching his photographs with historical likeness that is refreshing for 21st Century photography.

Michael Hoppen Gallery has been applauded for bringing contemporary photographers from across the globe to the Western market and has created a platform for emerging artists. [12] Though the exhibition was considerably small leaving us wanting to see more of Hara’s work it was pleasant surprise to acknowledge world-class talent and forth fronting Japanese photography in the West. Though Hara uses Western influence for the basis of his photographs, it is his native cultural impression that is fascinating such as the use of Japanese actors including a self-portrait in ‘A Study of The King of Cats’ personalizing his work. In 1974 John Szarkowski, co-curator of an exhibit of Japanese photography at New York’s MoMA, wrote “What comes new of an artist today will, if interesting, be the common property of the whole world next year”. [13] Perhaps Hisaji Hara’s ‘A Photographic Portrayal of the Paintings of Balthus’ will be the advancer for Japanese contemporary photography.

Inside the exhibition (photographs by myself)

References:

1. Published in Harper’s Bazaar, May 2008
Galperina, Marina; ‘Julianne Moore as Famous Works of Art’ on ‘Flavorwire’; Available at: http://flavorwire.com/245622/julianne-moore-as-famous-works-of-art [Online resource, accessed 15/05/12]
2. In the exhibition the Michael Hoppen Gallery uses digital archival prints to see to potential art collectors rather than the originals themselves. ‘Hisaji Hara’ on ‘Michael Hoppen Gallery Past Exhibitions’; Available at: http://www.michaelhoppengallery.com/exhibition,past,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,michael_hoppen_contemporary.html [Online resource, accessed 14/05/12]
3. 'Question: ‘Photographie.com : The Michael Hoppen Gallery in London is now exhibiting a series of your portraits modeled upon painting by Balthus. Why did you feel the urge to recreate / revisit his paintings?’ Author unknown; ‘Hisaji Hara, ou l'inévitable antinomie de l'être’ on ‘Photographie.com’; Available at: http://www.photographie.com/event/hisaji-hara-ou-linevitable-antinomie-de-letre [online resource, accessed 15/05/12]
4. Bohr, Marco; ‘Hisiji Hara’ on ‘Photomonitor’; Available at: http://www.photomonitor.co.uk/2012/03/hisaji-hara-2/ [Online resource, accessed 14/05/12]
5. Unknown author; Exhibition statement present at the Michael Hoppen Gallery
6. Question: 'Photographie.com : Your work contains an unsettling and at the same time most natural mix of innocence and eroticism - some might even say that your pictures contain lots of Lolitas. Why is this theme important to you?' Author unknown; ‘Hisaji Hara, ou l'inévitable antinomie de l'être’ on ‘Photographie.com’; Available at: http://www.photographie.com/event/hisaji-hara-ou-linevitable-antinomie-de-letre [online resource, accessed 15/05/12]
7. Chandler, Daniel; ‘Notes on “The Gaze”’; Available at: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/gaze/gaze09.html; [Online resource, accessed 16/05/12]
8. O’Hagan, Sean; ‘Hisaji Hara – review’ on ‘The Guardian’; Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/feb/26/hisaji-hara-photography-hoppen-review [Online resource; accessed 14/05/12]
9. 'Question: Photographie.com : Do you agree with Balthus' when he says that girls convey timelessness better than women ?' Author unknown; ‘Hisaji Hara, ou l'inévitable antinomie de l'être’ on ‘Photographie.com’; Available at: http://www.photographie.com/event/hisaji-hara-ou-linevitable-antinomie-de-letre [online resource, accessed 15/05/12]
10. O’Hagan, Sean; ‘Hisaji Hara – review’ on ‘The Guardian’; Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/feb/26/hisaji-hara-photography-hoppen-review [Online resource; accessed 14/05/12]
11. Bohr, Marco; ‘Hisiji Hara’ on ‘Photomonitor’; Available at: http://www.photomonitor.co.uk/2012/03/hisaji-hara-2/ [Online resource, accessed 14/05/12]
12. Michael Hoppen Gallery – ‘History’; Available at: http://www.michaelhoppengallery.com/info,history,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,michael_hoppen_gallery.html [Online resource, accessed 16/05/12]
13. Tucker, Anne Wilkes; ‘The History of Japanese Photography’ (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston); published; Yale University Press [Hardcover](4 Feb 2003)

In Discussion: Ways of Seeing by John Berger

In the first Visual Exploration seminar the topic of discussion was John Berger's influential book Ways of Seeing (Penguin, 1972) which is based on a four part BBC documentary of the same name.

Discussing this book was certainly interesting as many topics were conversed such as the layout of the book, similarities of images and readings of images changing over time. Berger states on the front cover 'Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak... The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled'. Berger brings to light the idea of what we see and what we know and how the knowledge 'never quite fits the sight' meaning how we see is about perception and that images is the first form of communication. As photography is considered one of the newest form of visual communication how we read images is important so Berger's book has certainly been a recommended read for photographers and artists alike.

The first thing a reader will notice is the layout as it is quite unusual making the experience of reading this theoretical book different as would expected. It is split into 7 chapters with alternating pictorial chapters and written analysis of the images from the previous chapter. A reason for having solely image based chapters could be that the viewer is subconsciously storing read images into their memory preparing for the next chapter so images can be retrieved in relation to the text. Although this is a clever way of reading the page layout itself is quite distracting especially in the written chapters where all the text is in bold font and there are no clear spaces between paragraphs; the eye is forced to dart around the page rather than focus on the text itself. However, regardless of layout Berger writes in a manner that is accessible to all ages rather than make the reader decode his words which could be lost in translation.

Two images from chapter 6 were discussed: (please note the images in the book are monochrome however the paintings are in colour)

Woman with White Stockings by Gustave Courbet (1819-77)

Demoiselles au bord de la Seine by Gustave Courbet (1819-77)

These paintings by Gustave Courbet are particularly interesting in relation to the meaning of images over time. Throughout art history the perception of female beauty has been quite curvaceous with a fuller figure and pale skin (seen in the above paintings) however the idea of beauty today has changed considerably to tanned 6ft slim model figure such as Gisele Bündchen. A reading of these paintings are that the voluptuous figure denotes a perception of status and wealth. Despite some readings changing over time, one that is seen today is the idea of the dominant male painter/photographer and the submissive female. These paintings are innocently erotic yet there is an element of a 'man's gaze'. (read Laura Mulvey's feminist film theory essay 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema') Berger states in chapter 3 (page 47) 'The surveyor of woman in herself is male: the surveyed female. Thus she turns herself into an object - and most particularly an object of vision: a sight.' In Courbet's paintings he is depicting his women an 'object of vision'.

Overall John Berger's 'Ways of Seeing' has been an insightful read and the issues discussed are still relevant today despite being published 1972. Our lives will always consist of images and understanding why and how we see and read images in a certain way is a vital part of how we communicate.

See the BBC 4 part documentary here:

Sources:

Ways of seeing - Berger, John (London : BBC 1972)

'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema' - Mulvey, Laura 

Further Reading:
Gustave Courbet