two fish, out of water
photographs from the japanese landscape paul kohl
two fish, out of water
Paul Kohl “Two Fish, Out of Water” 16 January - 28 February 2009 Muzium & Galeri Tuanku Fauziah, Universiti Sains Malaysia Project Director & Editor Hasnul Jamal Saidon
Muzium & Galeri Tuanku Fauziah Universiti Sains Malaysia 11800 USM Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. Tel : 604 653 3888 (Ext. 3261) Fax : 604 656 3531 Website : http://www.mgtf.usm.my
Design Concept Paul Kohl & Mohd Firdaus Khairuddin Curatorial Assistants Zolkurnian Hassan, Mohd Firdaus Khairuddin, Aizuan Azmi, Nur Hafizah Ab. Aziz, Nor Mohammad Abd Rahim, T. C. Liew Technical Assistants Shamsul Ikhmal Mansori, Noordin Ban, Rosli Hamzah, Muhammad Husni Abd. Latiff, Mohamad Yazdi Yaacop, Izrul Abd. Aziz, Noor Rashid Shabidi Publication Assistants Nor Laila Abd. Rozak@Razak, Safinawati Samsudin Financial Assistant Rohayah Sanapi Promotion & Publicity Nurul Ashikin Shuib, Azizi Yahya, Adlan Redzuan, Salim Ibrahim General Support Afzanizam Mohd Ali, Radhiyah Abu Bakar, Salmiah Mohamad, Faridah Hashim, Ravi Vansamy Online Exhibition http://mgtf.usm.my/exhibit.php Kohl, Paul Two Fish, Out of Water : photographs from the japanese landscape / Paul Kohl ISBN 978-983-43926-2-8 1. Universiti Sains Malaysia. Muzium & Galeri Tuanku Fauziah-- Catalogs 2. Arts Museums--Catalogs. 3. Art Museums--Exhibitions. I. Universiti Sains Malaysia. Muzium dan Galeri Tuanku Fauziah. II. Title. 708.9595
© 2009 Paul Kohl and Muzium & Galeri Tuanku Fauziah, Universiti Sains Malaysia. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced except for the purpose of research, critism and review, without prior permision from the artist and publisher.
For my wife, Izumi, and my two sons, Issaku and Jiro.
Contents Foreword by Paul Kohl Plates Biodata
The rice shoots have just been planted. They are a green mist over the dark water in the paddies. The frogs are loud at night. The needle-beaked egrets strut and stab. The black head of the rat snake weaves through the spiked shoots. It is all strange to me. For now, it is the pleasure of this dislocation on which I feed and which nourishes these pictures. I have realized, though, I would make the same pictures wherever I was. I can’t blame the Japanese. The landscape is internal. The dislocation is permanent. Paul Kohl
Politics and Religion 62 cm x 55 cm Kobe, Japan.
Truck Sprite 62 cm x 55 cm Osaka, Japan.
Sleeping Man 62 cm x 55 cm Kobe, Japan.
Asian Seduction 62 cm x 55 cm Okayama, Japan.
Love Dance 62 cm x 55 cm Kobe, Japan.
The Weight 62 cm x 55 cm Kobe, Japan.
The Smoker 62 cm x 55 cm Kobe, Japan.
Window Dressing 62 cm x 55 cm Kobe, Japan.
Our Lady of the Mall 62 cm x 55 cm Osaka, Japan.
Suits, Sakura and Kimono 62 cm x 55 cm Kobe, Japan.
White Tabi 62 cm x 55 cm Kobe, Japan.
Mountain Man 62 cm x 55 cm Ryoko, Japan.
Black Head 62 cm x 55 cm Kobe, Japan.
Woman Walking 62 cm x 55 cm Kobe, Japan.
Mother’s Medicine (Kutsuri) 62 cm x 55 cm Kobe, Japan.
The Visitor 62 cm x 55 cm Kyoto, Japan.
What’s Left 62 cm x 55 cm Okayama, Japan.
Still Life 62 cm x 55 cm Kobe, Japan.
Nature Mort 62 cm x 55 cm Kobe, Japan.
My Guru 62 cm x 55 cm Kobe, Japan.
Bunny Love 62 cm x 55 cm Okayama, Japan.
Abandoned 62 cm x 55 cm Kobe, Japan.
The Watcher 62 cm x 55 cm Tokyo, Japan.
Empty Pockets 62 cm x 55 cm Okayama, Japan.
Trimmed 62 cm x 55 cm Kobe, Japan.
Sakura over Sewer 62 cm x 55 cm Kobe, Japan.
Cherry Coke 62 cm x 55 cm Kobe, Japan.
Flame Plant 62 cm x 55 cm Kobe, Japan.
Trees, Pole, Smog 62 cm x 55 cm Osaka, Japan.
Sand, Lantern, Trees 62 cm x 55 cm Kobe, Japan.
Temple Wood 62 cm x 55 cm Kobe, Japan.
The Trimmers 62 cm x 55 cm Okayama, Japan.
Burnt 62 cm x 55 cm Kobe, Japan.
Drowned Bike 62 cm x 55 cm Nakasho, Japan.
Dirty Book II 62 cm x 55 cm Okayama, Japan.
Wall, Light, Box 62 cm x 55 cm Kyoto, Japan.
The Invitation 62 cm x 55 cm Osaka, Japan.
The Treasure 62 cm x 55 cm Osaka, Japan.
The Last Car 62 cm x 55 cm Okayama, Japan.
The Brothers 62 cm x 55 cm Kobe, Japan.
Spectator Sport 62 cm x 55 cm Kobe, Japan.
Divided Car 62 cm x 55 cm Uno, Japan.
Success 62 cm x 55 cm Okayama, Japan.
Protection 62 cm x 55 cm Okayama, Japan.
Abandoned II 62 cm x 55 cm Kobe, Japan.
Cloud/Stairs 62 cm x 55 cm Osaka, Japan.
Sea Wall 62 cm x 55 cm Uno, Japan.
Vertical Abstraction 62 cm x 55 cm Okayama, Japan.
Paul Kohl is an American photographer who has spent many years teaching and making images in Asia, especially in Japan. He is a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute (BFA/Photography) and Purdue University (MA/Media Studies). He was a past Chairman of the Photography Department at the Maryland Institute, College of Art. While there, he was also the Chairman of the Faculty, Faculty Ombudsman and won the “Distinguished Teacher” Award. He has taught several years in Japan. He won a National Endowment for the Arts Photographer’s Grant, Maryland State Arts Council Grants and several faculty grants that have allowed him to pursue his interest in 21st. Century printing techniques. To further that passion, he has studied digital printing with John Paul Caponigro and Jon Cone at Cone Editions. He was a Master Printer for the Singapore International Photography Festival and now teaches workshops in Digital Fine Art Printing in Southeast Asia. Besides the workshops, he is a Visiting Professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore where he teaches both analog and digital photography in the School of Art, Design and Media. His prints are part of the permanent collections of several museums including the Fogg Museum and the San Francisco MoMA. One of the enduring influences on his life and work has been his practice of the martial arts. He has a Black Belt in Aikido and has also done Tai Chi and Jodo ( Japanese wooden Staff ). “That work has taught me the importance of energized, passionate awareness. I try to live as if my hair is on fire”.
This work was all photographed using Fuji Neopan 400 black and white film and was developed in Rodinal, the venerable Agfa film developer. The grain is certainly visible but it is so sharp! I have loved grain since I began photography. It is, for me, crystalized light and is intrinsic to my pictures. The camera for all this work was a Konica-Minolta Rangefinder. It is a great machine: small, fast and very tough. Prints of this work are available by contacting me at my email address which you can find on my web site:
http://www2.gol.com/users/pkohl Paul Kohl