Dress by Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garçons Noir, autumn/winter 1995. Acrylic, nylon. Collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute.

Lion Dais Reliquary. Lion, Kamakura period, 13th century. Reliquary, 14th century. Pigment on wood, crystal, gilded bronze.

Elderly Warrior Mask, Kamakura Period, 13th century. Lacquer and pigment on wood.

Dress by Issey Miyake, spring/summer 1994. Pleated polyester. Collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute. All images taken by Hiroshi Sugimoto.

by JAMES WOODARD, Hokubei Mainichi

Hiroshi Sugimoto is probably best known for his striking black-and-white images, in silver gelatin prints, of ocean images and wax models. But what may surprise fans of Sugimoto is his extensive collection of historical and archeological pieces that would make most museums jealous.

“History of History,” one of the two Sugimoto exhibitions that opened Oct. 12 at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, combines Sugimoto’s art with his eye for artifacts. Many of his artifacts include parts of his artwork as well, adding a modern dimensions to ancient rarities.

“Stylized Sculpture” features the work of contemporary fashion designers from the Kyoto Costume Institute. The exhibition, which was conceived by Sugimoto, is not the typical fashion show.

Sugimoto, who also has photos of the costumes in the show, approached the fabric sculptures the same way he approached making his wax museum images, creating striking black-and-white portraits that capture the lines and shadows of the garments.

“I call myself, from today, a fashion photographer,” he said jokingly. “There is strong competition in this field.”

The garments were designed by some of Japan’s most notable designers: Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto, Junya Watanabe and Tao Kurihara. In the early 1980s, Miyake, Kawakubo and Yamamoto brought their radical designs to Paris, where their fusion of avant-garde designs and traditional Japanese influences took the fashion world by storm.

Sugimoto’s photos of the ornate vestments are a perfect complement to the intricate lines and designs. It is his goal that visitors will see the fashion as sculpture, and not just as garment designs.

Sugimoto’s passion for history extends to his view of fashion as well, as he remarked about the profound changes that fashion has had on the lives of modern women, remarking that “every detail has a very interesting significance in the cultural background, and even the styles of women’s bodies is quite different.”

Sugimoto first came to the U.S. when he arrived in New York in 1974. Within a year he had submitted a portfolio to the Museum of Modern Art, which bought it. Sugimoto was just 25 years old.

This was at time when photography had not quite been accepted as an art form. Sugimoto credits Ansel Adams, whose pictures of the California wilderness have inspired artists and activists alike, with being the grandfather of photography as art.

“Photography was kind of a second-class-citizen of the art field for a long time,” Sugimoto recalled.

Sugimoto opened a Japanese antique shop and was subsequently hired by museums to buy pieces for different collections, including his own. He had no formal training in Japanese art history, but his experience in purchasing for museums gave him an excellent education.

“This was my best education,” he said. “Not to pay a tuition, but to use my money to buy the things I like. Then you get more serious. This is the real tuition.”

A retrospective of his photography was recently featured at the de Young Museum, and the Asian Art Museum not only hosts two of his shows, but is also showing films that Sugimoto says influenced contemporary Japanese visual art.

“I’m so honored. This is quite unusual to be given two major museum spaces under one roof,” Sugimoto said. “This is the first time in my experience that I have two shows to hang together.”

“History of History” and “Stylized Sculpture” will be shown until Jan. 6 at the Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin St. For more information, visit www.asianart.org.

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