NY | Hiroshi Sugimoto at the Japan Society

Known for his illusory images documenting environments that include abandoned theaters, serene marine panoramas and exotic animals, Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto has always reached for the sublime. A profound sense of time, whether it’s preserving personal memories or capturing a sense of the past, imbues the artist’s monumental and highly collectible images.

Sugimoto’s new exhibition ‘Gates of Paradise,’ now on view at New York’s Japan Society, continues this obsession, drawing its inspiration from one of the earliest documented encounters between Japan and the West. The pilgrimage in question involved four Tenshō embassy boys (the quattro regazzi) who arrived in Europe as Catholic converts in 1582 and set out to experience Western religion and culture.

Sugimoto’s lense has retraced this epic grand tour with a series of awe-inspiring images which depict iconic monoliths such as Florence’s Duomo, Rome’s Pantheon and the famed leaning tower of Pisa. The large scale black and white photographs, often captured from below, are complemented by magnificent Japanese nanban works from the 16th and 17th century as well as other pieces that date back as far as the 13th century.

The exhibition rounds out what’s shaping up to be a watermark year for the multihyphenate artist, who also delves into the worlds of architecture and film. In addition to a Noh performance piece staged by the Japan Society, Sugimoto has redesigned the institution’s garden with large bonsai plants and ceramic tiles imported from Kyoto.