Exhibit features Japanese artist’s work

Using black-and-white photography, artist Hiroshi Sugimoto explores the connection between time and space in an exhibit at the IU Art Museum.

The exhibit will run in the museum’s Special Exhibitions Gallery  until May 10, featuring more than a dozen photos from five private collections.

Photographer and Sugimoto’s assistant Gen Aihara will have a lecture on Sugimoto’s career Saturday in the School of Fine Arts, followed by a reception at 6:30 p.m. in the art museum’s atrium.

Nan Brewer, Lucienne M. Glaubinger Curator of Works on Paper, organized the show. She said students, faculty members and the Bloomington committee have been impressed with the photographs in the show.

People are delighted that we have some samples from an international artist,” she said. “It just shows how internationally recognized he is.”

The exhibit features work from various series of Sugimoto’s work, including collections on conceptual objects, theaters, seascapes and architecture.

The Japanese photographer, who lives in Tokyo and New York, took the photos all over the world to gain a global perspective on art.

“(The exhibit) shows a mix of Western and Eastern influences,” Brewer said.

Brewer added that even though someone may think they are unfamiliar with Sugimoto’s photos, his work appears in various places in popular culture, including on the cover of U2’s album “No Line on the Horizon.”

Photography professor James Nakagawa first saw Sugimoto’s work in a Japanese photography publication years ago. He encouraged students to see the show and take note of Sugimoto’s expertise.

“This is a highly regarded photographer in the field today,” he said. “If you’re interested in photo, its worth a trip to see the work."