AN exhibition “Into Fiction/Reality” featuring works of the celebrated Japanese photographer Mika Ninagawa traveled from Japan to China at the Times Art Museum in Beijing on March 18. As by far the most extensive representation of the artist’s creative life path, it showcases nearly 700 pieces of her works, including photos, videos and immersive 3D installations.

    Best known for her flamboyant images of blooms, goldfish, and landscapes, the artist has been accredited with some prestigious photography awards including the most authoritative photography honor Kimura Ihei Photography Award in Japan.

    Ninagawa, who first came to prominence in the late 1990s as part of Japan’s onnanoko shashinka, or Girlie Photography movement, explores themes of Japanese youth culture, narrative tropes and light’s effect on color. In 2014, she was appointed as an executive board member of the Tokyo Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games of 2020.

    Five of the entire 12 display sections make their first appearances in China. In these images, Ninagawa contemplates the uniqueness of life after the COVID-19 pandemic, also the body aesthetics centering on athletes of the Tokyo Paralympics 2020.

    “The Chaos Room,” a 3D installation, visualizes the emotional tension within the artist’s body and mind. Surrounded by neon lights and photographs, in this space her cinematic works are being reconstructed. “Seasons of Butterflies,” a short film made of almost raw footages, produces a magical immersive experience floating amongst seasonal flowers with butterflies on the side.

    Born in Tokyo into a creative environment, to an actress mother and a theater director father — the famous Yukio Ninagawa, Mika Ninagawa is a photographer-director with a distinctive style, characterized by its super-saturated colors and cinematic framing.

    The exhibition runs to June 19.

    （China Daily)