安藤政信

Masanobu Ando

We are pleased to present the photography exhibition “憂鬱な楽園” by Masanobu Ando at the Gekkeikan Shinya (Former Okura Residence).

Also active as an actor, Ando’s latest artwork is a photographic series that reflects on the duality of light and shadow suggested by the title Melancholic Paradise, through landscapes, portraits, and fragments of everyday life. Within dreamlike scenes, traces of solitude and the passage of time quietly emerge, crystallizing a private and poetic gaze in which outer landscapes and inner landscapes overlap.

The venue, the Gekkeikan Shinya (Former Okura Residence), is the former home of the founding family of the sake brewery Gekkeikan. Located in the historic sake-brewing district of Fushimi ward, Kyoto, the building is an important cultural property. The surrounding area preserves numerous examples of machiya townhouse architecture from the Edo to Meiji periods, and the Gekkeikan Shinya itself is a rare and valuable machiya that is not ordinarily open to the public.

We warmly invite you to experience Masanobu Ando’s photographic world as it unfolds within this serene and exceptional space, imbued with a quiet atmosphere overlooking a beautiful garden.