Hiroshi Sugimoto’s Trickery of Time at Hayward Gallery

Hiroshi Sugimoto‘s gloriously alluring photographs arrive at Hayward Gallery for the Japanese artist’s largest retrospective yet.

Hiroshi Sugimoto: Time Machine (11 October 2023–7 January 2024) takes visitors through Sugimoto’s key works from his stuffed animal dioramas and dramatic ‘Theatre’ series to his meditative seascapes and haunting portraits of wax figures.

Highlights from the show include his expansive panoramas of the natural world. Polar Bear (1976) captures an Arctic bear post-hunt in an icy backdrop.

As with much of Sugimoto’s work, the black-and-white photograph implements a dialogue between authenticity and imitation. When looking closely, the bear’s overly manicured appearance reveals it to be a stuffed animal posing as a living creature.

Sugimoto’s exploration of time, memory, and the dual nature of photography is made even more captivating by Hayward Gallery’s exposed concrete interiors and brutalist design.