Risaku Suzuki Stream of consciousness [Introduction]

イントロダクション Introduction

Risaku Suzuki (b.1963) began his artistic career in the latter half of the 1980s, working in the medium of photography. His first photo collection, KUMANO, published in 1998, featured the Kumano region where he was born. This was followed the following year by Piles of Time. His new form of expression with its rich narrative style and method of recording photographs in a sequence that created the feel of a road movie for the trail to a holy place, brought significant acclaim, winning Suzuki the 25th Kimura Ihei Commemorative Photography Award in 2000. Following that success, he began to work internationally, producing solo exhibitions in New York in 2006 and Zurich in 2011.

In addition to the photographs of Kumano that represent his lifework, Suzuki has turned his hand to other regions and a diverse range of subjects, including Montagne Sainte-Victoire in southern France, Cézanne’s atelier, cherry blossoms, and snow. His profound exploration of the photographic medium and his concern for the act of seeing are consistently evident in his art.

This exhibition presents one hundred and six photographs and three videos, and mainly features the artist’s latest works and other works shown for the first time. Suzuki named the exhibition, "Stream of consciousness," based on his own experience that "When we give ourselves to the act of seeing, incoherent memories and thoughts of all kinds float to mind, accompanied by a swelling of emotion." Vicariously we relive moments seen by the artist, viewing the images free from words and thoughts, which leads us to 'seeing' purely.