Hiroshi Sugimoto

Presented by Jill Hayes

The Spiritual in Contemporary ArtUMKC

Spring Term 2011

Sea of Buddha

Hiroshi Sugimoto, Sea of Buddha, Black and White Photograph Series, 1995

The temple houses 1000 identical life-sized Buddha (Bodhistva Kannon) statues

Sugimoto photographed the hall in 1995 to create a series of 48 black and white photographs

Sanjusangendo Temple (Exterior)Kyoto, Japan

Sanjusangendo is a twelfth-century Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan.

The Buddha statues are arranged in 10 rows by 100 columns. In front and around some of these columns there are also 28 unique statues of guardian deities. Directly in the centre of these 1000 statues is a giant buddha statue covered in gold.

Sanjusangendo Temple (Interior)Hall of Thirty Three Bays / One Thousand Buddha

Sea of Buddha

Hiroshi Sugimoto, Sea of Buddha, 1995 (Exhibition Format)

7 Days / 7 Nights

Hiroshi Sugimoto, Seascapes Series, Black and White Photographs, 1980-2008, 7 Days / 7 Nights Exhibition at Gagosian Gallery in 2008.

Seascapes, Ligurian Sea

Hiroshi Sugimoto, Ligurian Sea, Saviore, 1982 (7 Days / 7 Nights Exhibition)

Seascapes, Caribbean Sea

Hiroshi Sugimoto, Caribbean Sea, Jamacia,1980 (7 Days / 7 Nights Exhibition)

Shinto Go-Oh Shrine

Hiroshi Sugimoto, artist and designer on the reconstruction project, 2002, Frontal view over the worship hall to the main sanctuary

Naoshima Island, Japan (top center, in yellow)

Shinto Go-Oh Shrine

Exterior view and side view of the outside optical glass steps, 2002

Shinto Go-Oh Shrine

Rock Chamber / Underground Chamber, An optical glass staircase leads from the worship hall to an underground chamber that represents the unity of heaven and earth.

Bibliography

1. Batchelor, Stephen. "Seeing the Light: Photography as Buddhist Practice." In Buddha Mind in Contemporary Art, edited by Jacquelynn Baas and Mary Jane Jacob, 141-145. Los Angeles, 2004.

2. Brougher, Kerry, "Impossible Photography," in Hiroshi Sugimoto, by Kerry Brougher and David Elliott, 21-31. Washington D.C.: Hatje Cantz Publishers, 2006.

3. Elliott, David. "Hiroshi Sugimoto: The Faces of Infinity." In Hiroshi Sugimoto, by Kerry Brougher and David Elliott, 32-41. Washington D.C.: Hatje Cantz Publishers, 2006.

4. Havinga, Anne E. "Landscapes from Nature, Landscapes of the Mind." In MFA Highlights: Photography, by Anne E. Havinga, Karen E. Haas and Nancy Keeler, 127-159. Boston: MFA Publications, 2008.

5. Spector, Nancy. "Reinventing Realism." In Sugimoto Portraits, by Tracey Bashkoff and Nancy Spector, 10-23. New York: Guggenheim Museum Publications, 2000.

6. Sugimoto, Hiroshi. "Sea of Buddha" (Plate Description) In Hiroshi Sugimoto, by Kerry Brougher and David Elliott, 163. Washington D.C.: Hatje Cantz Publishers, 2006.

7. Sugimoto, Hiroshi. "The Times of My Youth: Images from Memory." In Hiroshi Sugimoto, by Kerry Brougher and David Elliott, 10-19. Washington D.C.: Hatje Cantz Publishers, 2006.

8. Sugimoto, Hiroshi. "Appropriate Proportion" (Artist website) (Hiroshi Sugimoto, 2002, accessed 4 September 2011), available from http://www.sugimotohiroshi.com/appropriate.html

9. No author, "Hiroshi Sugimoto: 7 Days / 7 Nights" (Press Release) (Gagosian Gallery, 2008, accessed 2 September 2011), available from http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/2008-11-06_hiroshi-sugimoto

THE ENDQuestions Welcome

Completely Irrelevant Fact:

In 2009, the band U2 selected Sugimoto's seascape Boden Sea as the cover for their album, No Line on the Horizon.

No cash exchanged hands, rather the band and the artist have a barter agreement which allows Sugimoto to use the band's song "No Line on the Horizon" (partly inspired by the "Boden Sea" image) in any future project.