Hiro Kikai
Tokyo Labyrinth
Published by Shogakukan, Japan, 1999
Book size 23.4 x 21 x 1.5cm
Pages 117 pages
Hardcorver
Good condition
Hiroh Kikai's Tokyo Labryinth is a collection of works of a 30 year exploration fo the city's urban landscape by the photographer. Taken in-between 1976 and 1989 in the old downtown suburbs of Tokyo, Kikai's images here explore the cities urban landscape without the presence of its inhabitants.
"Kikai's images combine a careful description of place with elegant abstraction; windows, laundry, pipes and telephone lines are reduced to lines and planes. Regardless of the rigor of his compositions, Kikai is essentially a humanist who is interested in people and how they live He describes his work as asking the question, "What does it mean to be human?" the side streets and back alleys of modest neighborhoods with formal precision and an eye for the surreal. With an economy of means, Kikai's work projects honesty and a deep respect for the evidence of time and humanity."
Yancy Richardson Gallery New York excerpt from exhibition press release.
---------------
Hiroh Kikai’s Tokyo Labryinth is a 30-year collection of the city’s urban landscape captured by the photographer. Taken between 1976 and 1989 in the old suburbs of downtown Tokyo, Kikai’s images explore the urban landscape of cities without the presence of their inhabitants.
"Kikai's images combine a careful description of place with elegant abstraction; windows, laundry, pipes, and telephone lines are reduced to lines and planes. However rigorous his compositions, Kikai is essentially a humanist interested in people and how they live. He describes his work as asking the question, 'What does it mean to be human?' Kikai's images affectionately depict the minutiae of human existence in one of the most cramped cities on earth, expressing the eloquence of the commonplace, the streets and alleys of modest neighborhoods with formal precision and an eye for the surreal. With an economy of means, Kikai's work projects honesty and a deep respect for the evidence of time and humanity."
Yancy Richardson Gallery New York excerpt from the exhibition press release.