Galerie Sfeir-Semler

Hiroyuki Masuyama

3rd November 2007 - 12th January 2008

exhibition view

Caspar David Friedrich

"Hochgebirge, 1824", 2007

"Mönch am Meer 1808-10", 2007

"Ruine im Riesengebirge 1834", 2007

"Dorflandschaft bei
Morgenbeleuchtung 1822", 2007
"Felsenschlucht 1821", 2006
"Der Watzmann 1824", 2007

"Felsenschlucht 1822-23", 2007
"Felsental 1813-14", 2007
"Das Eismeer 1823-24", 2007

James Mallord William Turner

"Festive Lagoon Scene,Venice 1845",
2007

"Procession of Boats, Venice 1845",
2007

"Sun setting over a Lake, 1840",
2007

"Venetian Festival, 1845",
2007

In his new body of works Hiroyuki Masuyama approaches the work of Caspar David Friedrich (1774 1840) and of James Mallord William Turner (1775 1851) using the medium of photography. The Japanese concept artist H.M. whose work has always been based on a compilation of many images honours both artists who did not paint landscapes in a realistic manner but composed them from several elements to create an idealistic site. Hiroyuki Masuyama located landscapes similar to the ones painted in the beginning of the 19th century and took around one thousand photos of several sites. He then compiled around 1000 photos to one mounted image and recreated the paintings in every detail, giving special attention to the pictorial atmosphere. Then the works were produced as lightboxes in the size of the original paintings. Even in his early photo and video works Hiroyuki Masuyama played with the concept of time and space. Masuyama tries to resume in one work the past, the present and the future. Time is important to him as the eternal cycle and the state of permanence. He takes for example one photo every day at the same time over one year, moving his camera one meter or turning it 1° . He then puts all 365 photos in a computer mounting one strip of each photo. The result is a lightbox of 30 x 15 x 200 cm showing a panorama view over 365 days. Also his sky panoramas are more than simple landscapes: During his flights Masuyama makes one photo every 20 seconds. Hundreds of pictures are then mounted to one whole journey. Similar to a painter, who is painting his view of an idealistic mountain on a blank canvas, the artist tries to leave the reality behind - in a way to take the viewer to a land of dreams, memory and fantasy. Through the perfect connection of the pictures Hiroyuki Masuyama creates a silent poetry of sensuality, which in its whole complexity is visible not until the second view.

During our show the Kunsthalle Hamburg will exhibit Hiroyuki Masuyama´s Lightbox “Caspar David Friedrich – das Eismeer” in confrontation with the original painting.

Hiroyuki Masuyama gallery site


"Dorflandschaft bei Morgenbeleuchtung 1822", 2007	"Felsenschlucht 1821", 2006	"Der Watzmann 1824", 2007


"Felsenschlucht 1822-23", 2007	"Felsental 1813-14", 2007	"Das Eismeer 1823-24", 2007


In his new body of works Hiroyuki Masuyama approaches the work of Caspar David Friedrich (1774 1840) and of James Mallord William Turner (1775 1851) using the medium of photography. The Japanese concept artist H.M. whose work has always been based on a compilation of many images honours both artists who did not paint landscapes in a realistic manner but composed them from several elements to create an idealistic site. Hiroyuki Masuyama located landscapes similar to the ones painted in the beginning of the 19th century and took around one thousand photos of several sites. He then compiled around 1000 photos to one mounted image and recreated the paintings in every detail, giving special attention to the pictorial atmosphere. Then the works were produced as lightboxes in the size of the original paintings. Even in his early photo and video works Hiroyuki Masuyama played with the concept of time and space. Masuyama tries to resume in one work the past, the present and the future. Time is important to him as the eternal cycle and the state of permanence. He takes for example one photo every day at the same time over one year, moving his camera one meter or turning it 1° . He then puts all 365 photos in a computer mounting one strip of each photo. The result is a lightbox of 30 x 15 x 200 cm showing a panorama view over 365 days. Also his sky panoramas are more than simple landscapes: During his flights Masuyama makes one photo every 20 seconds. Hundreds of pictures are then mounted to one whole journey. Similar to a painter, who is painting his view of an idealistic mountain on a blank canvas, the artist tries to leave the reality behind - in a way to take the viewer to a land of dreams, memory and fantasy. Through the perfect connection of the pictures Hiroyuki Masuyama creates a silent poetry of sensuality, which in its whole complexity is visible not until the second view. During our show the Kunsthalle Hamburg will exhibit Hiroyuki Masuyama´s Lightbox “Caspar David Friedrich – das Eismeer” in confrontation with the original painting.
Hiroyuki Masuyama gallery site