From a series Propagation Imitator, 2024, Gelatin silver print, 20.3×25.4cm ©Hiroko Komatsu
From a series Propagation Imitator, 2024, Gelatin silver print, 20.3×25.4cm ©Hiroko Komatsu
From a series Propagation Imitator, 2024, Gelatin silver print, 20.3×25.4cm ©Hiroko Komatsu
From a series Propagation Imitator, 2024, Gelatin silver print, 20.3×25.4cm ©Hiroko Komatsu
From a series Propagation Imitator, 2024, Gelatin silver print, 20.3×25.4cm ©Hiroko Komatsu
Handmade Book “Instant Diary, 2024”, 2024, Steel box, card, Diffusion transfer process photo, book ©Hiroko Komatsu
Handmade Book “Black Book #3”, 2025, Book, Glass bottle ©Hiroko Komatsu

Hiroko Komatsu, “Propagation Imitator | Book-work”

Dates | July 11 (Sat) – August 2 (Sun), 2026
Venue | MEM  map
Hours | 12:00-18:00
Closed | Mondays (Open on public holidays; closed the following day)
Tel | +81 (0)3-6459-3205

Opening reception: July 11th, 16:00 – 18:00

Public Reading by Hiroko Komatsu: August 1st, 18:15– (Reservation required, Fee ¥1200)

This exhibition will feature photographic prints related to Propagation Imitator, a mixed-media installation composed of approximately 1,200 photographic prints depicting industrial zones, arranged across the walls and floor of the exhibition space, together with moving images projected onto the floor. Twenty-four photographs selected from the original installation have been framed for presentation at MEM. The installation will also be presented in the group exhibition I’m So Happy You Are Here: Japanese Women Photographers from the 1950s to Now, currently on view at Shibuya Hikarie Hall.

Across the two venues, visitors are invited to experience photography in two distinct ways: by moving through a space surrounded by numerous photographs and moving images, and by viewing framed photographs in a face-to-face encounter. In addition, MEM will present Komatsu’s series of book-works.

Komatsu was born in Kanagawa, Japan. She is known for installations that fill entire spaces with vast quantities of photographic prints, rolls of photographic paper, and moving images. Since her first solo exhibition in 2009, she has exhibited extensively in Japan and internationally. Working outside established institutional frameworks, she laid the foundations of her distinctive artistic practice through a series of solo exhibitions held at Broiler Space, an independent gallery she operated for one year beginning in 2010. She is the recipient of the 43rd Kimura Ihei Award and the 33rd Society of Photography Award.

Related Exhibitions

Japanese Women Photographers: From 1950s to Now

Venue: The Photographers’ Gallery, London
Curated by Lesley A. Martin, Mariko Takeuchi and Pauline Vermare,
Dates: June 24th – September 27th


I’m So Happy You Are Here: Japanese Women Photographers from the 1950s to Now

Venue: Hikarie Hall (Shibuya Hikarie 9F, Tokyo)
Dates: July 4th – August 26th
Hours: 10:00–19:00 *Last entry 30 minutes before closing.
Organizer: Bunkamura
Curator: Mariko Takeuchi, Pauline Vermare, Lesley A. Martin
Media partner: J-WAVE
Planned by Aperture
Planning cooperation with Contact Co., Ltd.