Taka Ishii Gallery Photography/Film is pleased to present “ACTION, the 1960s,” a solo exhibition of works by Minoru Hirata. The exhibition will include 41 images selected from the vast archive of photographs, which Hirata took of Japanese avant-garde artists’ actions in the 1960s.

In the 1960s, when postwar Japan went through many fundamental changes, there was an explosive movement of young artists who left their studios and staged “actions” in the streets to critique the state of society and to challenge the stagnant art world. Holding a camera in my hand, I witnessed the “charged moments” created by these artists whose actions were at once fresh and photogenic. What I saw through the lens became Photo Art when transferred onto paper.
- Minoru Hirata

Minoru Hirata was born in Tokyo in 1930. As a freelance photojournalist, he documented the activities of avant-garde artists of the 1960s, such as Yoko Ono, Genpei Akasegawa, Ushio Shinohara, Hi Red Center, and Zero Jigen. At times, Hirata presented photographic projects to the artists in an effort to create broader recognition of their works. He was thus more an intimate collaborator than a mere documenter. As a part of his oeuvre, he has also documented Okinawa and sky sports and organized various exhibitions such as “Fly Icarus” at Nikon Salon in 1975 and “Okinawa 1968-1974” at Konica Minolta Plaza in 2000. In recent years, his work has been include in exhibitions on postwar Japanese art including the “Tokyo Exhibition” held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2008. In 2011, he participated in Les Recontres d’Arles. His works are also included in the Tate Modern London’s public collection.

*image (left)
© Minoru Hirata