Imperial Sakura
1 of 1 Editions Available
Part of the Genesis drop by renowned artist, Michel Comte, the "Japan Series" consists of 14 unique works, which are a continuation to his cinematic film "The Girl from Nagasaki". Under Comte’s lens, rose cherry blossoms glow in front of ominously dark skies like enigmatic omens.
The “Japan Series” form Comte’s photographic essay and are all shot with a Hasselblad camera. Comte has ‘always been obsessed with film’, especially with the likes of Antonioni, Pasolini, Bertolucci, Tarkovsky, and Kurosawa. Having spent most of his life behind the camera, it is only natural that Comte has come to think in pictures. Interestingly, despite his penchant and pronounced talent for elaborate mis-en-scène, he never let go of the incalculable feral element in all of us. On the contrary, it is the friction between image and being that interests him.
“I've been recording cherry blossoms for many years. The cherry blossom season is a time of celebration in Japan. (...) It’s a moment of renewal.” —Michel Comte
Born in Zurich in 1954, Michel Comte studied in France and England, and began his career in art restoration, specializing in contemporary art. In 1979 Comte met Karl Lagerfeld who gave him his first commercial assignment for Chloé and later Chanel. He has since collaborated with Vogue Italia, Vanity Fair and Interview, and with brands such as Dolce & Gabbana, Calvin Klein, Ferrari, LVMH, among many others. Comte later time traveled to conflict zones to raise funds for humanitarian projects such as “People and Places with No Name.” In 2008 he met Ayako Yoshida and has since dedicated more time to art and personal projects; together they produced their first 3D feature film The Girl From Nagasaki in 2013. Comte exhibited at the National Gallery of Parma (2016), Museo Maxxi and La Triennial di Milano (2017).
