
1985-2018
oil on paper, photographic emulsion and acrylic on shaped canvas
240×550×28cm (variable size)

1984/2018
Gelatin silver print
25.3×20.3cm

2016
copper, acrylic, ultraviolet curing resin on canvas
194×145.5cm

2016
acrylic and Gofun(white pigment) on styrofoam
70×61×82cm

2004
scanning electron micrograph, inkjet print
280×334cm, each

2003
vacuum, glass, leather, iron
90×φ50cm

1998
Chromogenic print
120×240cm

1996
braille point on brass plate, chandelier
Brass plate: 48×48cm, each (81 plates in total)
Chandelier: 150×φ130cm
Tomoaki Ishihara was born in 1959 and graduated from the Kyoto City University of Arts in 1984. In the 1980s he produced self-portrait photographs printed onto spindle-shaped canvases with photosensitive emulsifiers painted on them as well as huge stitched leather sculptures. His artwork traverses through different mediums such as photograph, painting, and sculpture questioning the framework of art media and the structure of what it means to see. For example, he often digitally converts parts of his body into physical media. Ishihara says that he is experimenting to augment the finiteness of the “body.” In this exhibition, we would like to present 60 works which are self-portraits from 34 years ago which he has printed again as gelatin silver print. The exhibition of more variants of this series are planned.
Ishihara held solo exhibitions in Tochigi Prefectural Art Museum in 1998, Otani Memorial Art Museum in 2004 and he participated in the Venice Biennale’s Aperto section in 1988. His most recent exhibitions include his 2017 solo exhibition, Mirror Behind Hole – Photography into Sculpture at gallery αM in Tokyo; a group show, Japanorama New Vision on Arts in Japan Since 1970 at The Centre Pompidou Metz in France; a group show in 2018, Starting Points: Japanese Art of the ‘80s. at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa; a traveling solo exhibition 34 LIGHT YEARS at MEM gallery in Tokyo; and in 2021, a group show Photographic Distance at Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts.