Seen:MEMORY Robert Frank and Kazuhiko Motomura
Who: Robert Frank
Where:Gallery Bauhaus, Ochanimizu (map)
When: Feb. 22 - April 18, 2015 (open 11-7pm, closed Sundays & Mondays, 600 yen admission fee)
Memory is a showing of Kazuhiko Motomura’s collection of prints by Robert Frank- Motomura was instrumental in the creation of Frank’s book The Lines of My Hand. Experiencing Frank’s work in person- the silver gelatin prints shown include vintage and what look to be contemporary prints- is something that anyone interested in Frank should not miss. This isn’t a true retrospective or greatest hits kind of show- indeed, nothing from The Americans is on show. Rather, visitors can come face to face with images from Spain and the hills of Peru in the late 1940′s. Surprisingly, and despite numerous claims of quitting still photography post-Americans, on display are several fantastic images taken in the 1960′s and even 1990′s. Motomura’s collection includes several of Frank’s wrenching collages from Nova Scotia winters- and even a portrait of the collector himself. Frank’s letters to Motomura, often part of the colleages themselves, are also handsomely framed. Sharp eyed viewers will notice one of Robert Frank’s friends- complete with his unmistakable round-frame sunglasses- incorporated into a college of video stills shot on a visit to Japan in 1992. With Araki in a headlock and surrounded by a gaggle of young women, Frank’s apparent happiness is a nice bright spot in what’s an otherwise serious and quiet show.
Note: During the exhibition Gallery Bauhaus is offering for sale copies from the original hardback 1970′s run of The Lines of My Hand at a substantial discount in addition to a few other rare Robert Frank publications.