Toshiya Watanabe @ IBASHO

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Toshiya Watanabe @ IBASHO

August 21st, 2024 by fstop

Toshiya Watanabe: Beyond what you see
14 September until 2 November 2024

Opening Saturday 14 September

“In his series Somewhere not Here Watanabe explores the depths of consciousness to create his magical realistic images. Magical realism questions what’s being represented in front of the viewer’s eyes and endows everything with a deeper meaning. In Watanabe’s photographs of real landscapes, such as the sea, the city and vegetation, reality disappears, resulting in a feeling of being ‘not here, but somewhere else’. Both instability and beauty exist in the pictures for which Watanabe used infrared film. The series Somewhere not Here uses society as a subject, focusing on something that appears and disappears underneath everyday life.

He continues his exploration of magical realism in the series Beyond what you see, which is a continuation of Somewhere not Here. Like Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, Watanabe depicts the subjects in his photographs in-between the mystical and the real world, creating a sense of confusion in the viewer. Watanabe’s work has also something similar to the Japanese concept of ‘ma’, a moment of silence or emptiness for awareness and contemplation. His work stimulates the viewer to pause, reflect and engage with the world around us.”

IBASHO
Tolstraat 67, 2000 Antwerp

Location: Antwerp, Belgium Type: Black and White, Exhibition

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