shashasha

Hiroh Kikai's Tokyo Labryinth is a collection of works of a 30 year exploration fo the city's urban landscape by the photographer. Taken in-between 1976 and 1989 in the old downtown suburbs of Tokyo, Kikai's images here explore the citites urban landscape without the prescence of its inhabitants.

"Kikai's images combine a careful description of place with elegant abstraction; windows, laundry, pipes and telephone lines are reduced to lines and planes. Regardless of the rigor of his compositions, Kikai is essentially a humanist who is interested in people and how they live. He describes his work as asking the question, "What does it mean to be human?" Kikai's images describe with affection the details of human existence in one of the most cramped cities on earth, expressing the eloquence of the commonplace found in the side streets and back alleys of modest neighborhoods with formal precision and an eye for the surreal. With an economy of means, Kikai's work projects honesty and a deep respect for the evidence of time and humanity."

• Yancy Richardson Gallery New York excerpt from exhibition press release