ART│Ai Ohashi Photo Exhibition 'piece'

ART│A Series Capturing the Cycles of Life and the Death Within

Ai Ohashi Exhibition "piece"

The new exhibition "piece" by emerging photographer Ai Ohashi will be held from Friday, March 8th to Sunday, March 31st at FOIL GALLERY in Kyoto, and from Thursday, April 25th to Sunday, May 19th at hpgrp GALLERY TOKYO in Tokyo. The exhibition will feature photographs that highlight life and death, taken as if searching for the fragments (=piece) lost from Ohashi's own pain.

Text by YANAKA Tomomi

Photobook "piece" Also Released Alongside the Exhibition

Ai Ohashi was born in Kanagawa Prefecture in 1974. After graduating from Tokyo College of Photography in 1995, she worked in magazines and advertising while also creating her own work. In 2000, she was selected for the "Hitotsubo" exhibition, and she is known for series such as "Take Me to the End of the World" (2004). Last year, she garnered attention for her ambitious activities, including a collaboration with DECOdeBONAIR, a shop on the B1 floor of Shibuya PARCO Part 1. The new works on display were photographed between 2009 and the summer of 2012.

Prompted by the death of someone close, Ohashi has continued to explore the edge of death from life, and the proximity of death from life, by photographing various locations both domestically and internationally. Images of Gunkanjima in Nagasaki, a ruin that retains its former glory but was never demolished; nature of terrifying beauty; and everyday scenes violently fractured by time without a sound, are captured and assembled into a single series.

Coinciding with this exhibition, the photobook "piece" will also be published, scheduled for release in early March.

Ohashi states that she decided to "release these works to the world" because life and death have become more immediate to us following the earthquake. The photographs capture the sometimes cruel realities of life with quiet solemnity, while simultaneously revealing the presence of death within life, all rendered with a gentle, serene sense of time.

Ai Ohashi Exhibition "piece"

Kyoto Venue

Dates: Friday, March 8th – Sunday, March 31st (Closed Wednesdays)

Hours: 11:30 – 20:00

Venue: FOIL GALLERY

Marble Building 3F, Sasayacho 1-519, Nishinirui Sasayacho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto

Tel. 075-451-6162

Admission: ¥300 (Free for junior high school students and younger)

Tokyo Venue

Dates: Thursday, April 25th – Sunday, May 19th (Closed Mondays)

Hours: 11:00 – 19:30

Venue: hpgrp GALLERY TOKYO

B1F, 5-1-15 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Tel. 03-3797-1507

Admission: Free

Photobook "piece"
Author: Ai Ohashi
Size: A4 Softcover
Price: ¥3150
Scheduled for release in early March