Hiraki Sawa made his debut with the East International Award, which is highly regarded as a gateway to success for young artists, with his work, "dwelling" (2002). The work displayed numerous model airplanes flying around in the room, while monochrome screen images projected unusual events and perspectives of reality. In "spotter", tiny people observed airplanes chasing their own shadows while assembling a range of cooking materials in the kitchen. Also in "migration", people, horses, camels, and birds conducted a silent parade in the empty house.
Later, Sawa created two-channel video works that operated simultaneously, such as "murmuring" and "out of the blue". He further developed his works to three-channel video works, like "going places sitting down", so that the artworks came to encompass the gallery entirely.
Recently, Sawa attempted to exhibit the room built for his work, "silk", and the projected image in a parallel line. The room made for the artwork was absorbed, and it became a metaphor which suggested that the video itself was a kind of 'micro-room'. Likewise in 2009, he exhibited a video artwork titled "O" which was located in a large space with a composition of three big screens, ten monitors, and five rotating speakers. The screen images faced the real room, and it was a sort of tentative attempt to embed the screen image into a structure.
Sawa's recent works explore the possibilities and effects of screen images located in real-life exhibition spaces.
Born in Ishikawa, Japan in 1977, Hiraki Sawa is currently based in London. In 2000, he completed M.F.A. of University of East London and in 2003 MFA Sculpture program at the Slade School of Fine Art at University College London. Recent exhibitions include "Latent image revealed" KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theatre, Japan (2018), "Sapporo International Art Festival" Sapporo, Japan (2017), "Under the Box, Beyond the Bounds" Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (2014), "Lenticular" Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, Scotland (2013), "12e Biennale de Lyon: Entre-temps... brusquement, et ensuite" Lyon, France (2013), "Lineament" Shiseido Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (2012), "Chengdu Biennale: Pure Views" East Chengdu Music Park, Chengdu, China (2011), "The Beauty of Distance: Songs of Survival in a Precarious Age" Biennale of Sydney, Sydney, Australia (2010).
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Hiraki Sawa "Postscript"
10 Apr - 26 May 2012 Tokyo -
Melancholia
Albrecht Dürer, Hiraki Sawa, Louis Bourgeois, Yayoi Kusama, Naoya Inose 25 Oct - 19 Nov 2011 Tokyo -
screening Hiraki Sawa / Takao Minami
Hiraki Sawa, Takao Minami 21 Oct - 14 Nov 2009 Tokyo -
Animal Garden
Hiraki Sawa, Tsuyoshi Ozawa, Nobuaki Takekawa, Yayoi Kusama, Tiger Tateishi, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Nagasawa Rosetsu, Maruyama oukyo 14 Oct - 15 Nov 2008 TokyoHistorically, domestic animals and pets, even wild animals were part of our daily lives. Sometimes as beings to be feared of, and other times as a symbol of power, or...Read more -
New Acquisition
Masayasu Mitsuke, Nobuaki Takekawa, Hiraki Sawa, Yuken Teruya, Yayoi Kusama, Tsuyoshi Ozawa, Tigar Tateishi, Michiro Tokushige, Yuichi Higashionna, I-Chen Kuo 11 Jul - 26 Aug 2006 Tokyo -
Hiraki Sawa
Hiraki Sawa 28 Oct - 26 Nov 2005 Tokyo -
Land
Robert Smithson, Dennis Oppenheim, Hiraki Sawa, Nobuaki Takekawa, Tsuyoshi Ozawa 22 Feb - 26 Mar 2005 Tokyo -
Gallery Collection B
Yayoi Kusama, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Hiraki Sawa, Tomomi Maekawa 6 Apr - 1 May 2004 Tokyo -
Hiraki Sawa
Hiraki Sawa 3 Oct - 1 Nov 2003 Tokyo
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Hiraki Sawa
"ABSENT" Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, ME, USA 20 Oct 2021Hiraki Sawa holds solo exhibition 'ABSENT' at Center for Maine Contemporary Art, America, from 1st October 2021 to 9th January 2022. Title: ABSENT Exhibition Period:...Read more -
Hiraki Sawa
"Until now and from now on,What changes and what doesn't changes,One day near future”, A-Lab, Hyogo, Japan 16 Oct 2021Hiraki Sawa will participate in 'Until now and from now on,What changes and what doesn't changes,One day near future ' at A-Lab, Hyogo, Japan from...Read more -
Hiraki Sawa
"Sumida Mukojima EXPO 2021", Mukojima, Sumida-ku, Tokyo 30 Sep 2021Hiraki Sawa participates in 'Sumida Mukojima EXPO 2021' at Mukojima, Sumida, Tokyo from 4th September to 24th October 2021. Title: 'Sumida Mukojima EXPO 2021' Exhibition...Read more -
Hiraki Sawa
"THE POETIC REALM", Yu-hsiu Museum of Art, Nantou-County, Taiwan 28 Aug 2021Hiraki Sawa participates in 'THE POETIC REALM' at Yu-hsiu Museum of Art, Nantou-County, Taiwan from 26th June to 26th December 2021. Title: 'THE POETIC REALM'...Read more