We use cookies to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and for our marketing efforts. By accepting, you consent to our Privacy Policy You may change your settings at any time by clicking "Cookie Consent" at the bottom of every page.

Options
Essential

These technologies are required to activate the essential functions of our range of services.

Analytics

These cookies collect information about the use of the website so that its content and functionality can be improved in order to increase the attractiveness of the website. These cookies may be set by third party providers whose services our website uses. These cookies are only set and used with your express prior consent.

Marketing

These cookies are set by our advertising partners on our website and can be used to create a profile of your interests and show you relevant advertising on other websites (across websites).

Rinko Kawauchi

a faraway shining star, twinkling in hand

Rinko kawauchi
Untitled, 2015, From the series An interlinking © Rinko Kawauchi / Courtesy of Christophe Guye Galerie

She is one of the brightest stars on the Japanese art scene. And now Rinko Kawauchi will be holding her first major exhibition in Sweden. On January 19, Fotografiska Stockholm opens its doors for the exhibition a faraway shining star, twinkling in hand – where photos of grand natural phenomena meet quiet everyday moments.

A group of people standing under a waterfall
From the series M/E, 2019 © Rinko Kawauchi. Courtesy of Christophe Guye Galerie
Dreamy, colorful photo of trees.
From the series ME, 2020 © Rinko Kawauchi. Courtesy of Christophe Guye Galerie (2)

Dreamy, poetic and unique imagery

“I feel very honored to be having a solo exhibition here,” says Rinko Kawauchi.

Rinko Kawauchi is one of the most established artists in Japan and known worldwide for her dreamy, poetic and unique imagery. The new exhibition a faraway shining star, twinkling in hand features over 40 works from the artist’s two most recent series, M/E and An interlinking. These works include everything from photographs to video art, light boxes and photo sculptures.

The M/E series is a tribute to “Mother Earth”, with photos of grand natural phenomena from Kawauchi’s trip to Iceland in 2019. She planned to return to the country to finish the series but was forced to remain in Japan when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. This led to completing the second part of the series with photos from her everyday life and from winter in Hokkaido, Japan. In the ongoing An interlinking series, Kawauchi has depicted her everyday life for 20 years. Taking both a micro and macro perspective has become significant for Kawauchi’s artistry, an approach that becomes particularly apparent in the contrast of these two series: small everyday situations in the face of grand natural phenomena. The letters M/E can also be read as “me” and refer to the connection between the small individual and the massive “Mother Earth”.

Untitled, 2012 From the series An interlinking © Rinko Kawauchi, Courtesy of Christophe Guye Galerie
Untitled, 2012 From the series An interlinking © Rinko Kawauchi, Courtesy of Christophe Guye Galerie
“Geysers like the planet’s breath”
“When I visited Iceland in the summer of 2019, I saw geysers like the planet’s breath and glaciers far beyond any human time,” says Rinko Kawauchi, linking her experiences in nature with life at home with her daughter: “My aging and my daughter’s development proceed equally; will warming continue the same way, until the glaciers I once saw are melted away? Everything is connected to the life we find before us. Even if we cannot stop ourselves heading toward death, surely we can improve the place where we live. When I wrote out those two letters, I felt a connection between all things on the planet, from those so vast their full form cannot be surveyed with the naked eye to the tiniest individuals.”

About Rinko Kawauchi

Rinko Kawauchi currently lives and works in Chiba, Japan. She burst onto the international scene in 2001, when she received the Kimura Ihei Photography Award, Japan’s most important photography prize for emerging talent, and published the books Utatane (Catnap), Hanabi (Fireworks), and Hanako. Since this triple debut, she has published another 27 books and has been awarded the eminent Annual Infinity Award (2009) from the International Center of Photography in New York. The exhibitiona faraway shining star, twinkling in hand will be shown at Fotografiska Stockholm from January 19 to April 14, 2024.