+ SIGMA

EVENT REPORT
KG+ Award 2018 Finalists Exhibition
Presented by SIGMA

In 2018, SIGMA participated in KG+,
a satellite event of the KYOTOGRAPHIE International Photography Festival, as one of its main sponsors.
The KG+ program included KG+ Award 2018, a photography competition
whose five finalists – including the grand prix winner – were awarded with the opportunity to exhibit
their works in a gallery in Japan’s capital of Tokyo.
After the solo exhibition of grand prix winner Kenryou Gu in 2018,
the group exhibition “KG+ Award 2018 Finalists Exhibition” recently exhibited the works by the four finalists
Yukiko Sugiyama, Masaki Kiuchi, Naotatsu Kaku, and Nicolas Auvray.
In this column, we would like to introduce the diverse works of each of these four artists
and provide a brief glimpse at the exhibition’s opening reception on February 2, 2019.

text:SEIN Online editorial staff photo:Yuki Nakazawa

2019.03.06

KG+ Award 2018 Finalists Exhibition

The KYOTOGRAPHIE satellite event KG+ was held in spring 2018. As part of SIGMA’s sponsorship of the program, the work of each finalist of the KG+ Award 2018 photography competition was going to be exhibited in a Tokyo gallery: the grand prix winner in a solo show, the remaining finalists as part of a group exhibition.
After Kenryou Gu’s solo exhibition in November and December 2018*, the group exhibition “KG+ Award 2018 Finalists Exhibition” featuring the works by the remaining four finalists was held at the America-Bashi Gallery in Tokyo’s Ebisu district between January 31 and February 11, 2019.

*Please click here for our article about the grand prix exhibition.

Yukiko Sugiyama “CRASH”

A classic car slumbers in a thick, lightless forest. A battle-worn bomber airplane rests shattered in a dusty and barren desert. Rust slowly eats away at the husk of a scrapped vessel that has fallen into the ocean’s embrace. All are eroded and absorbed by their environments.

Yukiko Sugiyama journeyed across Kyoto, California, and New York capturing scenes of machines in their twilight. Like something out of a science fiction novel, Sugiyama uses infrared and drone technology to document their stories. This exhibition pursues the heartless advancement and demise of the interdependence of humanity and machines.

Masaki Kiuchi “Tangent”

Masaki Kiuchi presents scenes once visible by the ancient inhabitants who lived in the areas around his hometown. Kiuchi photographs rivers, the sea, mountains and hills; images that do not include any man-made objects or traces of agriculture. Thus, mixing modern scenes with agricultural civilization from back then. By emphasizing the boundaries between the past and the present, as well as civilization and nature, the viewer can rethink these delicate relationships.

Naotatsu Kaku “Choreography by Choreography”

A video as an extension of a photograph, a photograph cut out from a video. This work presents the choreography of changing from video to photograph and back again. There exists a quest for a sense of time and visual discomfort of these boundaries. The creator choreographs a new dance from this media and sets apart bodily expression clad in its own fascination.

Nicolas Auvray “Lisa + Attractions Nocturnes”

Simply a lonely building and a bench. A woman lingers on the bench, looking across the street at a man. This work, entitled “Lisa,” is the result of a fortuitous encounter one night between this woman and the photographer. Artist Nicolas Auvray searches and captures the extraordinary atmosphere of dreamlike realities. As a sensuous exploration of day and night, he uses both surrounding light and the “set” of reality to create a theatrical presence with a strong narrative. To Auvray, night is not simply a time of day, but a radically strange space encompassing the perception of a changed reality. To complement this nocturnal experience, a selection of portfolio “Attractions Nocturnes” is also presented.


Opening Reception & Gallery Talk

Following the exhibition’s opening on January 31, the artists and organizers held a reception party and gallery talk on Saturday, February 2. The event was well-attended and became a great opportunity for artists and audience to discuss and exchange ideas about the exhibited works.

SIGMA will again join KG+ in 2019 as a main sponsor

Following its participation of KG+ in 2018, SIGMA will again join KG+ in 2019 as a main sponsor.
In addition to our activities as a sponsor, this year SIGMA also plans to participate in the festival’s program by organizing a photography exhibition called “SIGMA Satellite Gallery in Kyoto 2019 | Go Itami Special Exhibition with FOVEON”.
We will provide further details regarding this exhibition very soon, and we look forward to seeing spring and art bloom again this year during Kyoto’s photography festival season.

SIGMA Satellite Gallery in Kyoto 2019 | Go Itami special exhibition with FOVEON

Exhibition Period|12th April – 12th May 2019 11:00-18:00 (last day until 17:00)
Closed | 4/15, 4/22, 5/7
Exhibition Venue|JARFO kyo-bunpaku [604-8183 Higashikatachō 623-1, Nakagyō-ku, Kyoto city JAPAN]

|KG+

Started in 2013, KG+ is an open-entry art festival dedicated to discovering and fostering talent among photographers, curators and gallerists alike. For this, our seventh annual edition in 2019, we are making various changes in procedures to insure a more fair and transparent festival for all. We offer an exhibition platform for ambitious talents working in all forms of photography — a launch pad for Japanese artists seeking worldwide attention and for foreign artists wanting entrée to Japan.
As a satellite of the main invitational KYOTOGRAPHIE International Photography Festival held concurrently each spring in Kyoto, KG+ affords an ideal forum for meeting and sharing information with the international photographic arts community, along with a participatory public outreach environment for visitors and local citizens. Presented citywide at a variety of venues, including the Junpu former elementary school, heritage houses and traditional shops, temples and historic sites, as well as “white cube” galleries, the possibilities for diverse creative expressions are far greater than with more conventional visual arts festivals.
(from KG+ Official site)
http://www.kyotographie.jp/kgplus/

Exhibition Period|12th April – 12th May 2019
Exhibition Venue|Former Junpu Elementary School [609-1 Kakimoto, Omiya Hanatacho-agaru, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto 600-3857] and various locations throughout Kyoto

Yukiko Sugiyama

Born in 1985, Kyoto, Japan; based in Kyoto and Los Angeles

Masaki Kiuchi

Born in 1971, Shizuoka, Japan; based in Shizuoka

Naotatsu Kaku

Born in 1990, Tokyo, Japan; based in Tokyo

Nicolas Auvray

Born in 1975, Paris, France; based in New York

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