Black Sun: The Eyes of Four, on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from August 9 to October 26, 1986, presents four artists whose works form a vital core of post-war Japanese photography: Eikoh Hosoe, Shomei Tomatsu, Masahisa Fukase, and Daido Moriyama. The 160 photographs chosen for the exhibition range from the metaphoric to the documentary, from the presentation of the horrific legacy of Nagasaki to visually dense cityscapes. Each photographer has created an innovative and uniquely Japanese style while producing images of universal consequence. These darkly beautiful and moving photographs embody such common human experiences as the fear of nuclear accident and destruction, the erosion of traditional values, the simultaneous decay and expansion of urban areas, and the need for rediscovering native roots.

Support

National Endowment for the Arts
The Arts Council of Great Britain
The Japan Foundation
The Pew Memorial Trust

Curators

Michael E. Hoffman
Mark Holborn
Martha Chahroudi

Itinerary

Museum of Modern Art, Oxford
Serpentine Gallery
Philadelphia Museum of Art
University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City
San Diego Museum of Art
Baltimore Museum of Art