MASAHISA FUKASE – SOLITUDE OF RAVENS
2016-01-18Masahisa Fukase’s Karasu (Ravens) was made between 1976 and 1982 in the wake of his wife Yōko Wanibe divorcing him. The visual narrative of the series revolves around the anthropomorphic form of the raven. Dead and alive the birds punctuate the work; lone birds reduced to shadow puppetry against the snow or dislocated flocks that mimic the grain of the photographs themselves. Although interjected with other subjects such as blizzard streaked streets or the fleshy form of a nude masseuse, it is the recurrent presence of the ravens that sets the ominous and cinematic tone of the work.
Akira Hasegawa in her poetic afterword to the book summarises Ravens with the following: “In the case of Masahisa Fukase, the subject of his gaze became the raven. For him, the “raven” was both a tangible creature and a fitting symbol of his own solitude”. At the end of the project in 1982 Fukase himself enigmatically wrote that he had “become a raven”.
Opposite – Nayoro, 1977
Exhibition runs from February 24th to April 23rd, 2016
Michael Hoppen Gallery
3 Jubilee Place
London
SW3 3TD
