Michael Hoppen Gallery is proud to present a two-floor exhibition of newly released and sold-out works by Japanese artist Sohei Nishino. This major exhibition opened a few days before lock-down and so many of Sohei's collectors and fans will not have had the opportunity to experience his two new pieces on the walls; Mountain Lines, Everest, 2019 and A Journey of Drifting Ice, 2019.

 

Now that the gallery has re-opened we would be delighted to show them to you and also to remind you of some of Sohei's earlier diorama city maps, many of which are sold out long ago. Sohei has agreed to release the APs (Artists Proofs) of some of his sold out pieces to accompany his new works. You can find these at the end of this Viewing Room page.

 

We hope that you will enjoy this new video in which Sohei describes how and why he made his extraordinary new diorama of Everest:

 

  • Sohei discusses Mountain Lines, Everest, 2019

    A month on the world's tallest mountain
  • Sohei Nishino was born in Hyogo, Japan in 1982. He graduated from Osaka University of the Arts in 2004, when...

    Sohei Nishino was born in Hyogo, Japan in 1982. He graduated from Osaka University of the Arts in 2004, when he began working on his Diorama Map series. Since then he has exhibited his work internationally and gleaned numerous awards including President Award, Osaka University of Arts (2004), Young Eye Japanese Photographer Association Award (2005), Canon New Cosmos Photography Award (2005) and the Canon Excellence Award (2005). He has also participated in several group shows and festivals, including Daegu Photo Biennale, Korea (2010), Out of Focus at the Saatchi Gallery, London (2012), Contemporary Japanese Photography Vol.10 at Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography (2012), A Different Kind of Order: ICP Triennial, New York (2013), and Kyotography Festival (2014). In 2016 Nishino was the subject of a solo exhibition at SFMoMA and he was shortlisted for the Prix Pictet Award in 2017.

  • "The way I go about photography is rooted in how I perceive the world physically. Originally, I started to explore this within cities. It began with my fascination with the rapid pace of cities and their metabolism. However, when I had the chance to visit a forest in North Carolina for a residency project in 2017, I was astonished by the enormous layers which existed even within the five square meters of territory around me, with the life including bugs, germs, plants, moss, and soil. I was surprised to learn that there is almost the same level of diversity in nature to that which I found in cities. So, I gradually moved on, to look at nature as my theme." 

     

     - Sohei Nishino

  • Sohei Nishino’s enduring fascination with map-making has taken a new direction in his most recent projects, which bring his cartographic vision to bear upon places which have traditionally defied definition on paper. His signature photo-collage technique pieces together thousands of images taken over the course of his travels, to construct dioramas of complex geographies which integrate human and physical landscapes. Moving beyond his earlier work in urban environments, Nishino has most recently travelled to Mount Everest, and to the sea which runs between northern Japan and eastern Russia, taking on some of the world’s most challenging environments.

  • Nishino’s Everest draws inspiration from the maps used traditionally by pilgrims to navigate holy sites. Fascinated by the historical significance...

    Nishino’s Everest draws inspiration from the maps used traditionally by pilgrims to navigate holy sites. Fascinated by the historical significance and symbolism of Everest, Nishino shot almost 300 rolls of film during his 23 day journey from Lucla to Gokyo Peak. He relates this intense journey through the Himalayas to those undertaken by sherpas and other local people who call the mountain home. Instead of following a linear course to a fixed destination, as many of visitors to Everest do, Nishino captures his experience of the road from a dense and meticulously planned variety of vantage points. Whilst Nishino continues to explore his interest in the relationship between people and their environment, his map of Everest illustrates an intense engagement with this harsh geography, and the ways that it shapes the lives of local populations. Nishino has described this project as one of the toughest periods of shooting, and in its unprecedented scale and use of colour it stands apart from his other work to date.

  • To create Journey of Drifting Ice, Nishino started out from the extreme north-eastern tip of Japan, on Hokkaidō’s Shiretoko peninsular....

    To create Journey of Drifting Ice, Nishino started out from the extreme north-eastern tip of Japan, on Hokkaidō’s Shiretoko peninsular. Fascinated by the drift ice, which expands and travels across Shiretoko’s seas, he began to research the science behind these colossal formations and the remarkable journey ice floes travel from Russia’s great Amur River through to the Sea of Okhotsk before arriving in Japanese waters. Nishino observes the drift ice as a naturally occurring transnational phenomenon, acting as a prescient appeal to our divided global society. In the light of the environmental crisis, Nishino’s mapping of these disappearing geographical features is charged with additional urgency; the landscape of these long unchartered waters is changing rapidly, and Nishino’s photography takes stock of both the ice floe’s evolving position and the integral necessity of its ecosystems to the diverse communities which rely upon them. 

     

  • AVAILABLE WORKS

    • Sohei Nishino, Mountain Line, Everest , 2019
      Sohei Nishino, Mountain Line, Everest , 2019
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    • Sohei Nishino, A Journey of Drifting Ice, Shiretoko and Magadan, 2019
      Sohei Nishino, A Journey of Drifting Ice, Shiretoko and Magadan, 2019
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    • Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map Istanbul, 2011
      Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map Istanbul, 2011
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    • Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map Tokyo, 2004
      Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map Tokyo, 2004
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    • Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map Amsterdam, 2014
      Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map Amsterdam, 2014
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    • Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map Havana, 2016
      Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map Havana, 2016
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    • Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map Po River, Italy, 2018
      Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map Po River, Italy, 2018
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    • Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map Johannesburg, 2015
      Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map Johannesburg, 2015
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    • Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map New Delhi, 2013
      Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map New Delhi, 2013
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    • Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map Berlin, 2012
      Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map Berlin, 2012
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    • Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map Bern, 2012
      Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map Bern, 2012
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    • Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map Rio de Janeiro, 2011
      Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map Rio de Janeiro, 2011
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    • Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map i-land, 2010
      Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map i-land, 2010
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    • Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map Shanghai, 2010
      Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map Shanghai, 2010
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    • Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map Night, 2010
      Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map Night, 2010
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    • Sohei Nishino, Hiroshima, 2009
      Sohei Nishino, Hiroshima, 2009
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    • Sohei Nishino, Osaka, 2003
      Sohei Nishino, Osaka, 2003
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    • Sohei Nishino, Kyoto, 2003
      Sohei Nishino, Kyoto, 2003
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