FUMIKO IMANO

imano is highly acclaimed for her collaborations in fashion, including photography for LOEWE for eight seasons since 2018, and designing sneakers for VANS using her original artwork. Best known are her series of self-portraits taken with a 35mm camera with the images cut and pasted to create a twin-like motif. Encapsulating an innocently nostalgic and humorous charm that is reminiscent of photographs that might have been taken during a family trip, imano’s self-portraits elicit an instinctive smile from their viewers. In sharp contrast, the distinct lines cut by scissors and joined together attest to the reality of their fictitious nature. Intentionally created by hand in the current digital age, imano’s photomontages are playful but nonetheless provide a penetrative insight into the machinations of identity and employ an unconventional visual language to convey new stories.

imano’s work consistently invokes a sense of travel. Ever-present is the urge to not remain in one place, but to travel continuously, searching for something during one’s journey. Her work is also a record of this process as it places value in the thoughts and sensations that are triggered by encounters, thus generating new images.

LE FUMISTOL, imano’s fourth solo exhibition at KOSAKU KANECHIKA, presents a new series that captures novel experiences in a world transformed by the pandemic. Visiting Paris in 2021 under strict travel restrictions, imano came across a quaint yet luxurious hotel in Paris. Forced to confront unimaginable tasks and feelings under the pandemic, the pillars of comfort and routine that had bolstered everyone’s lives up until then had crumbled. What did imano encounter and feel during these times, and how did she work under such uneasy circumstances?

In addition to fumiko imano’s photomontages, this presentation of 35 works will include never-before-seen drawings.