Laurent Grasso, the 2008 recipient of the Marcel Duchamp Prize, awarded to the most innovative artist living in France, is holding his first major solo exhibition in Japan at Maison Hermès Le Forum in Ginza. Laurent Grasso's works, which have attracted considerable attention in recent years, depict mystical events, legends, and paranormal phenomena using a variety of techniques, based on research into historical documents and scientific literature. This exhibition continues this style and features a number of new works depicting paranormal and supernatural phenomena that have occurred in Japan. Laurent Grasso's works, which depict the 1914 Sakurajima eruption, Jomon period masks, and unidentified objects discovered in the Hitachi region in 1803, exude a mysterious presence and realism that makes one wonder if they were loaned from a historical archive or museum. They also evoke the sense that time has passed, and reality can sometimes be fantastical and strange, like fiction. Using the styles and techniques of 15th- and 16th-century Flemish painting and pre-Renaissance Italian painting, his paintings depict solar eclipses, auroras, meteorites, and other subjects rarely depicted at the time. These paintings, which encompass multiple time periods—their artistic techniques, the world depicted, and the present day in which they were created—appear before us, evoking a strange, mysterious, and mystical experience. "The artist's role is to provide viewers with a foundation for reflection. I'm interested in historical texts, cultural anthropology, and sociology. Modern science and technology can sometimes be more powerful than science fiction, but I want viewers to experience a reality stranger than fiction through my works, which are based on actual events and not entirely imaginary," said Laurent Grasso. The title of this exhibition, Soleil Noir (Black Sun), refers to a solar eclipse, symbolizing the mystical, cosmic, and fantastical experiences of time that people have repeatedly experienced since ancient times.

We hope you will come to this exhibition to experience the fantastical and strange experience that is born when hierarchically divided, fictional-like facts are wrapped in multiple time periods and appear simultaneously.

[Event Information]
Laurent Grasso Exhibition "Soleil Noir (Black Sun)"
Dates: November 11th - January 31st, 2016
Hours: Monday - Saturday 11:00-20:00 (last entrance 19:30), Sunday 11:00-19:00 (last entrance 18:30)
Closed: Irregular holidays, closed on November 18th. Opening hours for the New Year holidays follow the opening hours of the Hermès Ginza store.
Venue: Ginza Maison Hermès Forum
Address: 8th floor, 5-4-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Admission: Free