Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on November 2011

The analog and digital worlds are often presented as polar opposites, but in the works of Masaharu Sato, the two become one. Sato creates his unusual photo-paintings by tracing photographs on a computer with a pen tablet, and then erasing the original photo data. The result is neither photograph nor painting, and possesses a strangely liminal quality. Two exhibitions are to be presented: the first, “Toride Elegy,” presents images of the Tokyo suburb; the second, “Little Girl Koko,” takes as its model a two-year-old girl who lives in Sato’s neighborhood.

Imura Art Gallery, Nov 26-Dec 22 (listing).