Rothko/Sugimoto: Dark Paintings and Seascapes

Sugimoto's silver gelatin print side-by-side with Rothko's works. Sugimoto's photograph echoes the composition of Rothko's painting, and we can see that the Pace chooses to emphasize this by lining up the horizon line of the works. 

Three Sugimoto prints alongside each other. In real life, the prints are extremely shiny and the tonal disparities between the works are beautiful. 

The only piece in the exhibit to display any colour, Rothko's painting taking pride position at the end wall of the gallery.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Mark Rothko is definitely in my top 10 of artists of all time… and as someone who loves a lot and likes a whole lot more, top 10 is a pretty sizeable accolade. The international super-gallery with spaces in New York, Beijing, and now London had a show in their Burlington Gardens space showcasing the works of Rothko and juxtaposing his paintings with the photographs of Hiroshi Sugimoto. Rothko/Sugimoto: Dark Paintings and Seascapes is in lieu with the Pace’s long-established tradition of exploring in their exhibitions the affinities between artists working across decades and mediums.

The Rothko paintings exhibited were the lesser-known works of the American artist painted just before his death, with all eight paintings dated 1969, the year before the artist’s suicide. These grey and black colourfield paintings were juxtaposed against the seascape photographs of Hiroshi Sugimoto. Sugimoto’s photographs echo the black and grey tones of Rothko’s paintings, selecting photographs where the sea is almost black and the sky fading into a dark grey. The photographs certainly echo Rothko’s exploration of abstraction, but through the medium of photography. The artist’s composition seems to capture the nuances of the waves and the subtle moonlight as opposed to the sea in all its powerful glory.

I couldn’t quite decide whether the juxtaposition between the two artists served to highlight their similarities or their differences. At first glance, there was clearly a textual difference with the shiny, polished silver gelatin photographs gleaming over the coarse, painterly works of Rothko. While Sugimoto seemed to depict very definitively through the mechanical means of photography, one could sense Rothko’s human gestures in his layers of painted clouds. However, Sugimoto’s abstract and minimalist composition makes the works of the two artists incredibly relatable. Sugimoto’s lack of true focus on object evokes the Rothko-like search for a greater, more ambiguous contemplation – perhaps metaphysical?

The Pace’s selection to exhibit the artists’ works side-by-side is an interesting one, especially considering the disparities in periods. Ultimately this teaches us about humanity and the concerns that cross generations. The contemplative works of the two artists are suggestive of cyclical eternity, of night and day, of life and death.