Osami Arikata

photographies

October 30th - November 11th, 2017

On Monday, October 30th at 7 pm is opened the exhibition of photographies of Japanese artist Osami Arikata.

Osami Arikata is well-known to the audience in Belgrade from his solo exhibitions held in 2007 at New Moment Gallery and in 2011 at Artget Gallery, and in new series of works the author continues his research in the field of analogue photography with motives of nature. Black-and-white photographies of „Magical forests“ represent the frames of natural environment of Okinawa Island. More than travelogue and landscape photography, the artists makes an artistic praise to a specific place and its individual elements as bearers of local legends and myths. Without tendency to use sensationalist approach and by its means to amaze the viewer with aesthetic qualities of natural phenomena, Arikata speaks of sacral dimension of natural forms (tree trunk and crowns, lianas…) and testifies of their continuance in atmosphere of meditatevly silence. With expressive light accents Arikata focuses every topos as a place which bears the cult of remembrance.

„Arikata Osami approaches this theme in a serious way, using analogue technique with larger-format negatives that offer a wide range of tones, which contributes considerably to the atmosphere he creates. With no artistic bravura and revisions, choosing light and frame of the motif carefully and patiently, he shows a great respect for what he is shooting, whishing to transfer to us his emotional relationship with each tree, stone or well as a natural shape that is sacred by itself, as an icon or a god statue. Arikata Osami’s devotion to work is like a devotion of a monk – icon painter while painting figures of saints and scenes from the Bible in Christianity.“ (Excerpt from text of prof. Branimir Karanović)

Osami Arikata (1947. Hokkaido, Japan) graduated from Tokyo College of Photography (1969). He held many exhibitions in Japan and Europe.

Opening of the exhibition