The acclaimed Japanese artist challenges perception through photography, sculpture, and even a satellite at the Singapore Art Museum through October 2026.
Step inside the Singapore Art Museum (SAM) at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, and the outside world quickly fades. Monochromatic walls, dim lighting, and an almost immediate hush greet visitors to “Hiroshi Sugimoto: Form Is Emptiness,” a sprawling exhibition running through October 4, 2026. The show, curated across Gallery 1 and The Engine Room, presents five decades of work by the Tokyo-born contemporary artist, whose practice spans photography, architecture, calligraphy, and beyond. Its central aim: to make viewers question how they see the world—and it delivers far more than the typical “meditative” exhibition promises.
Who Is Hiroshi Sugimoto?
Born in 1948, Sugimoto studied politics and sociology at Rikkyo University before moving to the U.S. to attend the ArtCenter College of Design in the 1970s. He is best known for photography, but his work extends into architecture, garden design, and even culinary arts. A recurring theme ties it all together: the slippery relationship between appearance and reality. Photography, in Sugimoto’s hands, becomes both evidence and illusion.
His iconic series—like the minimalist “Seascapes,” where sky and ocean merge into a single horizon, and “Theatres,” where entire films are reduced to a glowing white rectangle via long exposure—anchor the show. The exhibition feels like a collection of questions Sugimoto has pursued for over 50 years: What is time? How does memory shape us? What is consciousness?
The Space Itself Becomes Part of the Experience
Rather than a linear path, the gallery unfolds like a mandala—an interconnected, looping journey. Visitors find themselves moving slower, lingering longer, guided by the space’s design. “I found myself settling into a pace that felt subconsciously guided,” one attendee noted. The hush is deliberate; it invites contemplation.
Three Works You Cannot Miss
Dioramas (1975–2025)
At first glance, these photographs appear to be stunning wildlife shots. In reality, they capture natural history dioramas at New York’s American Museum of Natural History. Sugimoto discovered that closing one eye collapsed perspective, mimicking a camera’s single lens. Through careful framing and lighting, stuffed animals and painted backdrops become startlingly believable—then unsettling. The series blurs the line between real and constructed, revealing photography’s power to persuade us of its truth.
Five Elements (2011–2012)
Small pagodas made of optical glass—the material used in lenses and telescopes—sit gleaming in the gallery. Each pagoda consists of five geometric forms symbolizing earth, water, fire, air, and void. The sphere representing water contains a hidden “Seascape” image, visible only when you stand directly parallel to the wall. It’s a subtle, rewarding discovery.
Spacescape (2024)
In a first for Sugimoto, he relinquished control of the camera entirely. He worked with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to launch a satellite called Eye into orbit in 2023. Equipped with a Sony camera, it captured Earth and the Moon at multiple points from outer space. Presented as a folding screen in The Engine Room, the work offers an omniscient vantage point. Visitors are encouraged to sit and absorb it—slowly.
Broader Implications: Art That Asks, Not Answers
“Form Is Emptiness” doesn’t provide definitive answers. Instead, it accumulates questions about perception, memory, and reality. In an age of information overload, Sugimoto’s work feels urgent—a reminder to pause and question what we think we see. The exhibition runs daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; early bird tickets are available online.
For related explorations, check out “Flesh and Bones” at ArtScience Museum or the sci-fi and fantasy art walk-through experience in Singapore.