joe phelan

I never heard of Hiroshi Sugimoto before I met him here in DC at the opening of an exhibit of his work at the Hirshorn, then I met him again at the opening of an exhibit of his collection of art at the Sackler a few yards down the Mall.

I was charmed by the man who is about my age and wowed by the art. The artist was born in Japan where he studied not art but economic and political thought. He moved to the United States in the seventies and seems to have sampled widely the delights of that decade. The dominant art movement of the period was minimalism which clearly influenced Sugimoto.

His photographs of natural history dioramas, modernist buildings in soft/fuzzy focus, waxwork effigies of the six wives of Henry VIII, the insides of American movie houses, a sea of Buddhas and sky and water are a stunning meditation on the unstable character of visual truth and fiction in the modern world.

For those who want to learn more about Sugimoto, or for those in the DC area, both museums have special features. The Hirshorn has an 'online interactive" with four podcasts including
Exhibition Tour with Hiroshi Sugimoto (25:35)
Meet the Artist: Hiroshi Sugimoto (52:35)
Hiroshi Sugimoto and Exhibition co-curator David Elliott (6:28)
Michael Fried lecture on Sugimoto

The Sackler is featuring Sugimot's art collection. There's an online exhibit
http://www.asia.si.edu/exhibitions/c.../Sugimoto.htm# and a podcast interview as well.

My hat's off to both museums for taking a leadership role in podcasting. I wish all the national musuems in this city would follow.