Noritoshi Hirakawa
(United-States)
In novels, plays, and movies, the switch – one person assuming another’s identity – is a reliable comic turn. The photographic work assembled in Trading Places seems at first glance to be very playful. On closer examination, the critical edges begin to show.
In Noritoshi Hirakawa’s project, the switch is between mothers and daughters in a modern Japanese household. In I Am the Mother, I am the Daughter, the mother dons the clothes that the daughter would wear to go out for the evening, while the daughter puts on the night clothes that the mother would wear to go to bed with her husband. While neither the father nor the boyfriend are photographed, their presence is felt in the women’s expressions and apparel.
The compelling characters encountered in Trading Places invite us to consider the social, racial, and psychological theatres of everyday life.
Noritoshi Hirakawa was born in Fukuota, Japan, and has lived in New York since 1993. His work explores repression and the collective unconscious and has been exhibited in private and public galleries in Europe, the United States, and Japan. Recent group exhibitions include Mixed Farming (Rotterdam, 2004), The History of Japanese Photography (Houston, 2003), False Innocence (Barcelona, 2003), and Transmute (Chicago, 1999).
Liane and Danny Taran Gallery, Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts
372, rue Ste-Catherine Ouest, #507
Trading Places. Michael Ensminger, Rafael Goldchain, Noritoshi Hirakawa, and Annu Palakunnathu Matthew
September 8, 2005– November 13, 2005
Monday to Thursday 9:00am-9:00pm, Friday 9:00am-4:00pm, Sunday 10:00am-5:00pm.
Closing at 2:00pm October 3, 12, 17 & 24, 2005. The gallery will be closed October 4-5, 13, 18-19 & 25-26, 2005.
Opening Thursday September 8, 2005 from 5:00-8:30pm, Rafael Goldchain will be present