Past Exhibition

Mythologies — Brazilian Contemporary Photography

The Shiseido Gallery is pleased to announce that from October 27th (Sat) through December 23rd (Sun), 2012 will host the exhibition Mythologies — Brazilian Contemporary Photography.

The Shiseido Gallery has organized a great many photography exhibitions, even from its earliest days, in part because Shinzo Fukuhara, the Gallery's founder and Shiseido's first president, was himself a photographer. Most recently we have been proud to host a number of such exhibitions bringing new perspectives and values to the expressive mediums of photography and video, including Helsinki School — Internal & External Landscapes (2009); Cao Fei — Live in RMB City (2009); Darkness for Light — Czech Photography Today (2010); RongRong & Inri — Three Begets Ten Thousand Things (2011); and Dayanita Singh — The Adventures of a Photographer (2011). In an age of globalization and increasing cultural homogenization, such exhibitions have taken advantage of the expressive capacities of photography and video to explore the distinct vernaculars of specific cultural traditions and regions.

Brazil is the largest country and the most populated in Latin America. As with the other economically developing BRIC nations (including Russia, India and China) it is today enjoying a period of rapid growth. Brazil's relationship with Japan extends back to the 1895 Treaty of Amity and Commerce, and taking advantage of the long term economic growth and prosperity that took root in the 1950s, numerous Japanese corporations have advanced into Sao Paulo. 1908 also marked the beginning of a major immigration of Japanese to Brazil, and the country now has the world's largest population (about 1.5 million) of residents of Japanese descent.

Brazilian society, having accepted immigrants from all over, has become one of the most racially and culturally diverse nations in the world. It has also seen its share of dynamically changing political upheaval and social change, a multicultural society in which a diversity of races, peoples, beliefs, and cultures all coexist in harmony. All of this has very strongly influenced Brazil's unique culture including music, art, architecture, design, and film, and such aesthetic expressions have been recognized around the world.

This exhibition offers an opportunity to experience Brazilian culture through the photography and video works of six individual artists including Claudia Andujar, Luiz Braga, Rodrigo Braga, João Castilho, Eustáquio Neves, Kenji Ota, and the photography collective Cia de Foto. Mythologies — Brazilian Contemporary Photography is structured around an exploration of the theme of “myth.” These works capture many of the often overlooked “spiritual” artifacts of modern society, and explore the essence of Brazilian culture in ways that offer opportunity to see mythological and allegorical connections that still pervade life and culture in Brazil.

Many of these works offer a documentary quality, casting their view subjectively on Brazilian life, custom, landscape, climate, flora and fauna, and other subjects, but at the same time they also passionately and powerfully express uniqueness of Brazilian views on aesthetics, nature, religion, spirituality, and life and death.

This exhibition offers an excellent opportunity to explore, through the works of contemporary Brazilian photography, the world of “myth” that still lives and breathes in Brazil.

Guest Curator

Eder Chiodetto Born in 1965 in São Paulo. Independent curator of photography and journalist. Since 2004 has curated numerous exhibitions for cultural organizations in and outside of Brazil. Involved as artistic director in the publication of various photography collections. Since 2006 curator of the Collectors Club of Photography at the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art. Author of The Writer's Place (Cosac Naify, 2002).

Participant artists

Claudia Andujar Born in 1931 in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. During the early 1970s lived among the Yanomami Indians in the Amazon Basin and photographed their lives, and later worked on activities to improve their lives and establish their rights.
Luiz Braga Born in 1956 in Belém. Known for works featuring the use of artificial lighting to create unusual expressive color effects. Representative of Brazilian Pavilion in the 53rd Venice Biennial. One of Brazil's representative photographers, active on the international scene.
Rodrigo Braga Born in 1976 in Manaus. His work explores whether people living in civilized society are moving away from the idea of the surrounding natural environment of which they are part. Work themes include the collision of civilization and nature and coexistence with nature.
João Castilho Born in 1978 in Belo Horizonte. Noted as one of Brazil's up-and-coming young photographers, his work is one of the major pillars of what has been called “imaginary documentary.”
Cia de Foto A São Paulo-based photography collective founded in 2003. Its energetic activities focus on publicizing works that cut across the boundaries of documentary photography and art.
Eustáquio Neves Born in 1955 in Juatuba, Minas Gerais. His unique imagery is based on a mastery of physical and chemical knowledge and its technical underpinnings.
Kenji Ota Born in 1952 in São Paulo. His poetic works featuring botanical elements use 19th century photographic printing techniques like cyanotype, collotype, and Van Dyck brown.

Samples of Works to be Displayed

  • Claudia Andujar
  • Untitled, from the series O Invisível (The Invisible), 1976
  • Gelatin silver print
  • Courtesy of Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo
  • Rodrigo Braga
  • Provisão (Provision), 2009
  • Video, 16min
  • Courtesy of Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo
  • Artwork produced by way of the II Videoart Competition of the Joaquim Nabuco Foundation - Fundaj
  • Cia de Foto
  • Sobre o Sol (On the Sun), 2012
  • Video, 16min 25sec
  • soundtrack: Guab
  • Courtesy of Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo
  • João Castilho
  • Untitled, from the series Redemunho (Whirlwind), 2006
  • Inkjet print
  • Courtesy of Celma Albuquerque Galeria de Arte and Zipper Galeria
  • Luiz Braga
  • Babá Patchouli (Patchouli Nanny), 1986
  • Inkjet print
  • Courtesy of Galeria Leme
  • Kenji Ota
  • Series Estrutura foliar #1 (Foliar structure #1), 1996
  • Van Dyke Brown on Cyanotype printed on Handmade cotton paper
  • Eustáquio Neves
  • Untitled, from the series Arturos, 1993-1997
  • Mixed technique, Inkjet print

Gallery Talk with guest curator Eder Chiodetto and photographer João Castilho

Date: October 27th (Sat), 2012, 2:00 - 4:00 PM
Location: Word Hall, Tokyo Ginza Shiseido Bldg 9F.
Please direct inquiries to the Shiseido Gallery (Tel 03-3572-3901)

Mythologies — Brazilian Contemporary Photography

Organized by Shiseido Co., Ltd.
Duration: October 27th (Sat) through December 23rd (Sun), 2012
Location: Shiseido Gallery
Tokyo Ginza Shiseido Building, B1, 8-8-3 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061
Tel:03-3572-3901; Fax:03-3572-3951
Opening hours: Weekdays 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM,
Sundays 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Closed Mondays
Admission is free
Supported by Embassy of the Brazil in Japan
Planning collaboration:Office Shigeo Goto

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