Hiromart Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Diary, an exhibition of photographs by Sebastian Piras. This is his 2nd solo-show with Hiromart Gallery, following his well-received debut solo-show in Japan titled ‘Amerikana Diary’ held 2012.
The show “Diary” features a selection of images taken by Piras over the past 20+ years in the United States and Europe.

Piras says: "I've always felt most comfortable communicating through imagery. Photography and film have made it easier for me to express my thoughts and have also allowed me to process the triviality of daily life. Photography is also a very emotional experience for me, as opposed to the written word."
To this show: "Selecting images that I shot long ago was both therapeutic and painful," says Piras. "I always prefer to move on and forward rather than look back introspectively. However, this process of re-examining old photos and footage has been a surprisingly freeing and 'new experience." 

Sebastian Piras is an Italian-born, New York City-based artist who has exhibited his photography and film work internationally. Early on in his career, Piras was encouraged by Andy Warhol, whom he met through Robert Mapplethorpe, to focus on artists' portraits. This led to his well-known series "Artists Exposed", captivating portraits of known and emerging artists and heavy-hitters in the international arts scene, including Andy Warhol, Roy Liechtenstein, Richard Prince etc. David Ross, former Director of the Whitney Museum, heralded Piras' photo as, "…probing and extraordinarily beautiful portraits of artists…that ultimately produces winners at both ends of the camera." These photos have been published in two book: Artists Exposed and A Pocketful of Contemporary Artists Portraits, using images taken from 1986 till 2006. 

Piras has directed and filmed several documentaries, including "Taylor Mead Unleashed", which also featured the lated Allen Ginsberg and Quentin Crisp, a short segment on Robert Wilsons installation of the Giorgio Armani exhibition at the Guggenheim Museu, NYC. In 2011, he directed the show film "Art Depot" which was showcased at the Cannes Film Festival and was one of 10 out of 1800 shorts selected by the National Film Board of Canada for its Online Short Film Contest. Piras has done extensive work both in TV broadcasting and on feature films as a photographer, director and producer. Most recently, Piras directed and produced the show film Fog in 2012. 

*image (left)
courtesy of the artist and Hiromart Gallery