w Face, 23 March, Tokyo, Japan, 2015

Nerhol

Foam presents the first international solo exhibition of Nerhol. This successful artist duo was founded in 2007 in Japan, as a collaboration between the graphic designer Yoshihisa Tanaka (1980) and the sculptor Ryuta Iida (1981). Together they explore the concept of the photographic portrait. By combining photographic and sculptural techniques, the artists reveal a complexity that photography usually obscures.

Traditionally, a portrait presents a three-dimensional face on a flat plane. But Nerhol aims to bring forward the complexities and difficulties of this concept. The duo creates time-lapse portraits consisting of many photographs taken over a three minute period, this captures each and every small movement of the subject. Subsequently Nerhol layers all images into one sculptural portrait. The artist duo digs and curves the faces, combining a layering of images with reductive carving. In Japanese language 'to dig' and 'to curve' have the same pronunciation: 'hol'. In addition, Ner means 'plan'. The duo always starts off with a plan, deciding for one 'portrait' to carve more vigorously, and for another work just to reveal small changes.
<iframe width="589" height="331" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rs2eEmc_LbU?showinfo=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
The result offers an honest 'index' of the portrait and the process of making. Also, the artists explore the tension between photography and sculpture; the first being a technical and distanced medium that often creates single images, whereas the latter typically comprises physicality, expression and multiple perspectives. Through this unique approach, Nerhol unveils the small alterations which are present in a photographed portrait - not side-by-side in a row, but all in one image.
The fascinating realization is that, while the portrayed faces appear as very distorted, they are in fact the accurate representations of real faces, captured in time. This poses the question if it is even possible to truly reflect the human face through conventional photography. Moreover, the work can be seen as a response to the volatility of today's fast paced reality, in which many things disappear as soon as they arise.
The exhibition comprises several portraits of Nerhol's very recent series Misunderstanding Focus, which consists of time-lapse portraits of individuals. This will be combined with images of objects - for example of a water tap, referring to tap water as a limited resource in capitalist society - and four new works that have never been shown before. The most recent work is about a radiation-contaminated fish, which Nerhol followed until its death. The alterations in the fish's life and appearance are a metaphor for the long-term consequences from the Great East Japan Earthquake and the subsequent tsunami.
The exhibition was made in collaboration with the <a href="http://www.images.ch/2014/en/" target="_blank">Festival Images</a> (Vevey, Switzerland)
This exhibition has been made possible by Van Bijleveltstichting and The Japan Foundation.

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Created by Nerhol (Yoshihisa Tanaka & Ryuta Iida) in 2015. Using stacked inkjet print as the medium, the artwork is a sculpture displayed at 23 x 20 x 4,5 cm.

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

visible in

Nerhol (Yoshihisa Tanaka & Ryuta Iida), 2015

Nerhol is a collaboration between graphic designer Yoshihisa Tanaka and sculptor Ryuta Iida since 2007. Together they explore the concept of the photographic image. Traditionally, a photograph presents a depiction of a person’s three-dimensional face on a flat plane. The work 

, however, is a time-lapse portrait consisting of numerous photographs taken over a three-minute period, a process which captures each and every small, involuntary movement of the subject. Subsequently, Nerhol meticulously scoops out and carves the faces in their photographs, combining a layering of the multiple images with reductive carving. By merging many images into a single picture, the artists unveil the small, ever-present alterations within a photograph. In an ingenious way, the duo questions the genre of photographic portraiture and photography as a snapshot of 'reality': every single, minimal movement can already produce a different representation of the sitter.

w Face, 23 March, Tokyo, Japan

Foam Collection

Mariage á Loèche-les-Bains (Marriage in Leukerbad), from the series Ekaterina, 2012-16

Current Study #3, 2013

#14 from the series Sun Set, 2011

Boys of Walthamstow, 2018

Maldoror #6, 2014

Bouquet V, 2008

The Crossroads from the series My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, 2014

Cosmic Chakra, 2016

Pat Blake for Vogue NY 1954

Deborah, from the series Week– End, 2009

Collection

Over the past 15 years, Foam has presented the work of over 95 emerging talents in Foam 3h which has become an important meeting place for photographers, artists, students, collectors and other players in the photography field. 

Foam 3h – 15 Years of Talent from the Collection

 presents a selection of artists whose work has been acquired for the Foam Collection.

Glasses  - Traces of the Familiar, 2014

Foam

Pink #1, from the series A Dalston Anatomy, 2013

How to build a sun, from the series Handbook to the Stars, 2011

Foam 3h: 15 years talent from the collection

Foam and Atelier N&eacute;erlandais present a group exhibition of 21 innovative image makers under the age of 35, selected through Foam&rsquo;s annual <a href="/magazine/talent-call">Talent Call</a>.

Every year Foam Magazine organises the Talent Call to identify young and international talents under the age of 35. Work of all the 2014 Foam Talents is shown at l&rsquo;Atelier N&eacute;erlandais in Paris.
The Foam Magazine Talent Call 2014 had a total of 1473 submissions from 71 different countries. The jury is again deeply impressed by the high quality and variety of all submissions. For the first time 21 photographers have been selected.&nbsp;
<img src="https://a.storyblok.com/f/113697/595x397/ce6046b6a6/595_charles-henry_bedue_6.jpg" alt="" width="595" height="397" />Image from the series L'Habit Fait le Moine &copy; Charles-Henry B&eacute;du&eacute;, courtesy of the artist
SELECTED PHOTOGRAPHERS
Charles-Henry B&eacute;du&eacute; (FR), Andrey Bogush (RU/FI), Jonny Briggs (UK), Daniel Everett (US), Lucas Foglia (US), Julien Gremaud (CH), Jing Huang (CN), Otto Kaan (NL), Sasha Kurmaz (UA), Catharine Maloney (US), Yoshinori Mizutani (JP), Nerhol (JP), Eva O'Leary &amp; Harry Griffin (US), Alice Quaresma (BR), Jan Rosseel (BE), &Eacute;milie R&eacute;gnier (CA), Christto &amp; Andrew (QA), Jennifer Niederhauser Schlup (CH), Sarah Ancelle Sch&ouml;nfeld (DE), Lukas Wassmann (CH), Hannah Whitaker (US).
FOAM MAGAZINE #39: TALENT ISSUE
The work of these talents is featured in <a href="http://shop.foam.org/en/foam-magazine-foam-magazine-39-talent-2014.html">Foam Magazine #39: Talent Issue</a>. The Foam Magazine Talent Issue is a career-building platform, helping to launch aspiring talents into the international photography industry and giving them international acclaim and recognition.
<a href="http://shop.foam.org/en/foam-magazine-foam-magazine-39-talent-2014.html"><img src="https://a.storyblok.com/f/113697/595x324/96cc229d0e/magazine_cover.jpg" alt="" width="595" height="324" /> </a>
Foam is supported by the Bank Giro Loterij, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, Delta Lloyd, Gemeente Amsterdam and the VandenEnde Foundation.

Paris | Foam Talent 2014

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

Foam is proud to present an overview of the Foam Collection - an exhibition of works selected from its own collection.

Loading… Works from the Foam Collection

nerhol

Nerhol

Foam 3h

w Face, 23 March, Tokyo, Japan

Collection

Foam 3h
15 Years of Talent from the Collection

Paris | Foam Talent 2014

Loading… Works from the Foam Collection

nerhol

Nerhol

Foam 3h

w Face, 23 March, Tokyo, Japan

Collection

Foam 3h15 Years of Talent from the Collection

Paris | Foam Talent 2014

Loading… Works from the Foam Collection

Foam 3h
15 Years of Talent from the Collection