REVISITATIONS TO A VACUUM’S NEST(2016)

Revisitations to a Vacumm’s Nest by Eikoh Hosoe

CEPA Gallery, in collaboration with Visual Studies Workshop (VSW) and Squeaky Wheel Film and Media Arts Center, is pleased to present Revisitations to a Vacuum’s Nest, a selection of vintage photographs from VSW’s archives by legendary Japanese avant-gardist Eikoh Hosoe.

The exhibition will take place from June 24 — August 27, 2016 throughout CEPA’s Flux and Passageway galleries. An opening reception will take place on Friday, June 24 from 7-10pm.

The exhibition will include an iteration of Hosoe’s earliest series Man and Woman, featuring famed dancer and performance artist Tatsumi Hijikata, creator of the Butoh school of dance. Also on view will be selections from the series Kamaitachi (also featuring Hijikata), as well as selections from the series Killed By Roses — a collaboration with revered Japanese author and polymath Yukio Mishima.

A selection of cinematic presentations featuring Mishima and Hijikata, as well as films by Shuji Terayama, a member of Eikoh Hosoe’s multi-disciplinary experimental art ensemble Jazzu Eiga Jikken-Shitsu (Jazz Film Laboratory), will be scheduled throughout the run of the exhibition. These films will help underscore the aesthetics, persuasions, and concerns of this burgeoning period of experimental artists, whose defiance of traditional modes marked the oncoming storm of Japan’s cultural revolution.

About Eikoh Hosoe

Eikoh Hosoe (born Toshihiro Hosoe in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan, 1933) is one of the key figures to emerge out of Japan’s post-WWII avant-garde art scene. His mark on photographic history is undeniable. He continues to be a key figure in contemporary Japanese art, in addition to being a teacher and one of Japan’s most avid cultural ambassadors. Hosoe’s psychologically charged and visually arresting images often occupy a peculiar territory situated between personal desire, Japanese mythology, the erotic, and death. He is currently the director of the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts (K*MoPA).

Visual Studies Workshop’s mission is to support makers and interpreters of images through education, publications, exhibitions, and collections. In 1969, photographer, writer, curator, and educator Nathan Lyons founded VSW as an artist-run, educational and support center for photography and other media arts. We are an independent, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Since 1977, we have resided in two historic buildings located in the Neighborhood of the Arts in Rochester, NY, including other notable institutions such as The George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film and the University of Rochester’s Memorial Art Gallery. Over the past 40 years, VSW has produced hundreds of exhibitions, over 450 artists’ books and resource titles, maintained the publication Afterimage, a valued, bi-monthly journal, housed collections with over a million images, and offered residencies to hundreds of artists. Our wide range of programs and facilities support media artists, students, other arts organizations, and the general population interested in the visual arts and its education. The interrelated program areas that implement and extend our mission are in Education, the Research Center, Afterimage, VSW Press, Artists-in-Residence, and Exhibitions.For more information about Visual Studies Workshop visit www.vsw.org

MOVIE NIGHTS AT THE LOFT

In conjunction with the exhibition Revistations to a Vacuum’s Nest, CEPA Gallery and Squeaky Wheel members are invited to a two special evenings focusing on Eikoh Hosoe’s friends and avant-garde cohorts Yukio Mishima and Shuji Terayama. These cozy and informal screenings, hosted by CEPA’s Artistic Director David Mitchell, will take place at CEPA’s former loft space located in the Burns Building, just across from the Electric Tower. Popcorn will be served and guest are invited to bring their own beverages for themselves, or to share.

Both events are FREE for all new, current, and renewing members of CEPA Gallery and Squeaky Wheel. If you’re not yet a member, click on the link below to join. Space is limited. RSVP is required and will be provided on a first come/first served basis. Separate RSVP’s should be made for each screening. Please indicate which screening you’d like to attend. Members are welcome to attend both, if desired.

MISHIMA NIGHT
Thursday, August 5, 2016 at 8pm
Burns Studio 5E
25 E Huron St, Buffalo, NY 14203

TERAYAMA NIGHT
Thursday, August 24, 2016 at 8pm
Burns Studio 5E
25 E Huron St, Buffalo, NY 14203