Days Under Cherry Blossom 21 Mar - 19 Apr 2009
Every springtime people gather in parks throughout Japan for Hanami, a celebration of the fleeting blossoming of cherry trees. This beautiful tradition is a commonplace occurrence in Japan but can seem strange and extraordinary to outsiders. Days Under Cherry Blossom, a show by two young artists from Japan and Britain, takes Hanami as a starting point in a subtle exploration of cultural difference. By juxtaposing their seemingly incongruous work the resulting collaboration offers an idiosyncratic view of what happens when a switch of location triggers a shift in cultural understanding. Michael Hammond, a British photographer takes immediate and lyrical mobile phone photographs of everyday encountered objects and places in Japan. Mayuko Matsunami, on the other hand, is a Japanese painter living in London who creates quirky anthropomorphic paintings of that very English of favourites - the dog. Placed together the artists create a new lo-key intimate sense of mutual understanding which goes beyond the beauty of the images on display
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