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Zooming In
Reintroducing Shigeru Onishi's Oeuvre

On 9 December, we hosted a Zoom conversation with MEM Gallery Director Katsuya Ishida and Art Critic Vicente Todolí. Together with Project Coordinator Valeria Posada, these experts will engage in a conversation about Shigeru Onishi's rare body of work, currently featured in the exhibition The Possibility of Existence.

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about the conversation

Shigeru Onishi’s photographs were reintroduced in the art scene a few years ago thanks to the joint effort of the gallery director Katsuya Ishida and the art historian Ryūichi Kaneko. Their fascination with his unacknowledged creations and their active promotion has captured the attention of photography lovers in and outside of Japan. Alongside Project Coordinator Valeria Posada, these experts will discuss the rediscovery of Onishi’s work and how this renewed interest led to the making of two important exhibitions.

about the exhibition

The exhibition The Possibility of Existence shows the forgotten photographic oeuvre of Shigeru Onishi (1928 - 1994). After graduating in topology (branch of mathematics) from Hokkaido University in 1953, the artist began to apply his mathematical theories to photography. Although his theories are fairly complex, they have produced a unique body of work that distanced him from other movements and ideas in Japanese photography of his time.

This exhibition is made possible by the Japan Foundation.

Foam is supported by the VriendenLoterij, Foam Members, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, the VandenEnde Foundation and the City of Amsterdam.

In 2021 Foam receives additional support from the Mondriaan Fund and Kickstart Cultuurfonds.


Title Unknown, 1950s © Estate of Shigeru Onishi, care of Tomoharu Onishi, courtesy of MEM, Tokyo.⁠

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Zooming In
Reintroducing Shigeru Onishi's Oeuvre