Jacob Hashimoto: Progress
Galerie Forsblom January 8–January 31, 2021
Jacob Hashimoto’s (b. 1973) latest works were born during the strange time of the pandemic, a time of existing isolation from each other and the outside world. His new works came into being when, alone in his studio, Hashimoto began reflecting on the course of human history and the contagious diseases that have plagued us over the centuries. However, the common theme of his new works is not despair but hope and a sense of possibility.
Hashimoto’s vast breadth of allusions ranges from cellular automata to global upheavals – from Methuselah cell patterns to the Irish Potato Famine. Some of his visual references are highly subtle, such as the arched passageways of the Doge’s Palace in Venice, which invoke the Black Death, the deadly pandemic that wreaked havoc across Europe and Eurasia centuries ago. Other allusions refer to Hashimoto’s hometown, New York, which bursts into bloom with spring arrival.
Hashimoto’s works fall somewhere between painting and sculpture, combining the compositional principles of painting with traditional Japanese bamboo and papercrafts. His installations are made up of countless miniature paper kites that flutter almost imperceptibly in the changing light and air currents in the exhibition space. Despite the organically layered effect they evoke, his installations comprise abstract, graphic details that involved highly meticulous planning.
Hashimoto has been featured in numerous solo museum exhibitions worldwide, including MOCA Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, New York’s Governors Island, WAM Turku City Art Museum, and Rome’s MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art. His work is found in numerous major public collections such as the LACMA Tacoma Art Museum, the Saastamoinen Foundation, and the Schaufler Foundation. The artist is based in New York.