Hiroshi Watanabe: Suo Sarumawashi     Dec 4 - Feb 5, 2010

In his newest body of work, Suo Sarumawashi, Watanabe investigates an ancient Japanese tradition that had fascinated him since boyhood. Sarumawashi, which translates to "monkey dancing,” evolved over a 1000-year history in Japan. Ancient Japanese chronicles refer to it as a form of religious ritual designed to protect the horses of warriors. It later developed into a popular form of festival entertainment, performed across Japan in venues from temples to imperial courts. Today, Sarumawashi is ranked alongside Noh and Kabuki as one of the oldest and most traditional of Japan's performing arts, featuring acrobatic stunts and comedic skits performed by highly trained macaque monkeys. Despite its current popularity, Sarumawashi almost perished in the 1970's. The increasing urbanization of Japan and the rise of the automobile on Japan's crowded city streets threatened Sarumawashi's place in Japanese culture as a popular form of street performance. One of the last bastions of Sarumawashi are two theaters run by the Suo Sarumawashi Association, who permitted Watanabe to photograph the monkeys between shows. The project resulted in a remarkable series of portraits that show the monkeys as their true selves, revealing the amazing depth of emotion of these primate performers.

Hiroshi Watanabe was born in Sapporo, Japan, and moved to Los Angeles after graduating from the Department of Photography, College of Art, at Nihon University in 1975. In Los Angeles, he established a career as a producer for television commercials and received his MBA from UCLA Business School in 1993. In 2000, Watanabe turned to photography full time, closing his production company after 25 years in business. Since then, he has traveled extensively, photographing throughout the world. His works are part of numerous private and public collections including The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts (Houston, TX) and the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House (Rochester, NY). Watanabe has published several monographs, which are all available through photo-eye Books. Hiroshi Watanabe with be present for the reception.

Coinciding with the show, photo-eye Editions will be releasing Watanabe’s newest publication, a limited edition suite of 12 prints from the Suo Sarumawashi series. This portfolio is a handmade, limited edition portfolio of twelve archival pigment ink prints presented in an engraved anodized aluminum box. In addition, a special edition will be released that includes a signed and numbered 11x14 silver gelatin photograph, a thirteenth image printed by the artist.

photo-eye Editions is dedicated to publishing contemporary photography in the form of limited edition books and portfolios, seen as a series of art objects themselves. photo-eye Editions is committed to extending the aesthetic beauty of photography beyond the individual photograph, be it in book or portfolio form.