PRESS RELEASE vol.1

Aug. 28, 2024

Alec Soth: A Room of Rooms
Oct. 10, 2024 – Jan. 19, 2025

Anna, Kentfield, California
from the series I Know How Furiously Your Heart is Beating,2017, Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum ⓒAlec SothⓒAlec Soth

The Tokyo Photographic Art Museum is pleased to present a solo exhibition of the photographer
Alec Soth, born in 1969 in Minnesota, USA. A full member of the international photography collective
Magnum Photos, Soth has earned global acclaim for his narrative-driven photographs, often
depicting scenes from his native Midwest region of the United States.
Titled A Room of Rooms, the exhibition showcases a wide range of Soth’s photographs, fromSleeping by the Mississippi, the artist’s first published series, which typifies his early works, toAdvice for Young Artists, his most recent endeavor, set to be issued this fall. However, it is not
merely a retrospective of Soth’s career, which spans 30 years. The museum has curated thisselection of scenes shot almost entirely indoors so as to reinterpret his oeuvre with the theme of“rooms.”

1Among the works in the exhibition are those from the series I Know How Furiously Your Heart isBeating. Drawing its title from a line in Wallace Stevens’s (1879-1955) poem “Gray Room,” theseries was compiled into a photo book in 2019, marking a turning point in Soth’s career. Initially,
Soth’s work took him across his homeland by car, capturing landscapes and people he encounteredwith a large-format camera, but this series represents a departure from the road-trip approach.
Soth traveled to various parts of the world, visiting various figures such as the late dancer andchoreographer Anna Halprin (1920-2021) and the novelist Hanya Yanagihara (b. 1974), and shooting
their portraits and personal belongings in the personal spaces where they spend much of their time.
This focus on rooms and their occupants provided the impetus for this exhibition.

I Know How Furiously Your Heart is Beating captivates viewers with its intimate portrayals ofsubjects in tranquil settings. The evocative title seems to express Soth’s empathy with his subjects
as he captured these moments, and to reflect our own emotional engagement with the works in this“room of rooms,” i.e., the museum gallery.
The artist explains, “While I regularly take photograph portraits, landscapes and still lifes, thegenre I feel most connected to is the interior.” What will become visible to us as we explore thevarious rooms and encounter their inhabitants? Soth’s exhibitions and photo books have thus far
earned widespread acclaim, and this exhibition delves further into the power of his art.

123[1] Two Towels from the series Niagara, 2004, Collection ofthe artist[2] Bil, Sandusky, Ohio from the series Songbook, 2012,
Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum[3] Still LifeⅡ from the series Advice for Young Artists, 2024,
Collection of the artist[4] Crystal, Easter, New Orleans, Louisiana from the series

Sleeping by the Mississippi, 2002, Collection of the artist[5] Untitled 07 from the series Dog Days, Bogotá, 2003,
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Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum*All Works ⓒAlec Soth2

Events｜Artist Talk: Alec Soth
Date and Time: 14:00-16:00, October 12, 2024
Venue: 1F Hall, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum
Fee: freeNumber of participants: up to 190 Numbered tickets will be distributed at the 1F general
reception desk from 10:00 on the day
Outline of exhibition｜Exhibition Title: Alec Soth: A Room of Rooms
Dates: October 10, 2024 – January 19, 2025
Closed: Mondays (except when Monday falls on a holiday, in which case the museum is open andclosed the following day) and New Year‘s holidays（12/29-1/1）
Venue: 2F Exhibition Gallery, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum
Yebisu Garden Place, 1-13-3 Mita Meguro-ku Tokyo 153-0062
Open Hours: 10:00–18:00 (Thu. / Fri. 10:00–20:00) *Final admission 30 minutes before closing.
Admission: Adults￥800/ College Students￥640 / High School and Junior High School Students,
Over 65 ￥400
*Admission is free for children in elementary school or younger; junior high school students living
or attending schools in the Tokyo metropolitan area; holders of Japanese disability identification
cards (shogaisha techo), along with up to two caregivers; and holders of the museum’s annualpassport.
Organized by Tokyo Photographic Art Museum operated by Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for
History and Culture
Sponsored by the Corporate Membership of Tokyo Photographic Art MuseumFor Press｜
If you have any press enquiries about this Exhibition, please contact our Department of PublicRelations.
High-resolution images for publication are also available by e-mail.
press-info@topmuseum.jp
https://topmuseum.jp/e/contents/index.html

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