Shigeyoshi Ohi come to prominence with a series of black and white photographs depicting the artist himself projecting a ghostly image of a Koi (carp; a symbol of energy, power, and determination in his native Japan) against a background of rolling waterfalls. Ohi’s presence signified an open conversation between contemplative human and benignly indifferent nature. He seemed unconsciously drawn to the beatific falls as both distant spectator and willing documentalist.
In his most recent work, Ohi continues that sense of eternal searching, but now, his quest has taken him to the Lighthouses of the Northeast. Presented in the gallery are eight large format photographs, where starling beacons of bright light bleed into noir(ish) backgrounds. Ohi stands sentinel within the foreground, poised upon a craggy bluff, a distant fence, or a winding path that leads to the base of these silo-like structures. He plays the detached witness as well as the curious sociologist.
We, as viewers, are drawn to the formal qualities of the photographs in the same way that the artist is drawn to the spectral beams. At times, the lighthouses appear to be making an otherworldly visitation, and Ohi, answering to a summons.
Press Release, Daniel Silverstein Gallery, April 5, 2002
