Sleepy Sea
Sleepy Sea is a 1953 photograph by Kansuke Yamamoto.[1] A gelatin silver print, it depicts a silhouetted head in profile, within which appear a necklace, a marble, a compass, a pocket watch, and a toy gun inscribed "Japan".[1] The photograph is one of Yamamoto's notable postwar works and has been discussed as an example of the way he carried Surrealist imagery into the social and psychological landscape of postwar Japan.[1]
Background and description
[edit]Sleepy Sea was made in 1953.[1][2] In the plate list of the Getty catalogue, it appears as plate 66, with dimensions given as 37.6 x 31 cm.[2] The composition is built around the outline of a human head seen in profile. Rather than depicting a sleeper directly, Yamamoto places a set of objects inside the silhouette, turning the head itself into a kind of dream-space.[1]
Relation to Magritte
[edit]The photograph has often been discussed in relation to René Magritte's 1928 painting The Reckless Sleeper.[1] In Magritte's painting, a sleeping figure rests above an irregular, tombstone-like form covered with objects such as a bowler hat, a candle, and an apple.[1] In Sleepy Sea, the figure is absent. Its place is taken by the silhouetted head, while the associated objects are absorbed into the interior of the form itself.[1] For that reason, the photograph has generally been treated not as a straightforward borrowing from Magritte but as Yamamoto's recasting of Surrealist imagery in a different historical and cultural setting.[1]
Interpretation
[edit]Several of the objects in the photograph have been read as deliberate signs rather than arbitrary details.[1] The compass has no needle, suggesting a loss of direction.[1] The toy gun marked "Japan," suspended inside the cranium of the silhouette, has been interpreted by Amanda Maddox as implying Yamamoto's dissatisfaction, in 1953, with the state of mind of the Japanese people and their acceptance of the United States military occupation after the war.[1] The title Sleepy Sea reinforces that sense of drift, suggesting a figure suspended in a dream rather than securely anchored in the world.[1] Maddox accordingly describes the photograph as a pointed commentary on Japanese society by an artist who used Surrealism as a means of provocation.[1]
Exhibition history
[edit]Sleepy Sea was included in the 2013 exhibition Japan's Modern Divide: The Photographs of Hiroshi Hamaya and Kansuke Yamamoto at the J. Paul Getty Museum.[3][2] It was also shown in the 2017 exhibition Japanese Surrealist Photography in Tokyo.[4]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Maddox, Amanda (2013). "Disobedient Spirit: Kansuke Yamamoto and His Engagement with Surrealism". In Keller, Judith; Maddox, Amanda (eds.). Japan's Modern Divide: The Photographs of Hiroshi Hamaya and Kansuke Yamamoto. Los Angeles: Getty Publications. pp. 194–195. ISBN 978-1-60606-132-9.
- 1 2 3 Keller, Judith; Maddox, Amanda, eds. (2013). Japan's Modern Divide: The Photographs of Hiroshi Hamaya and Kansuke Yamamoto. Los Angeles: Getty Publications. p. 206. ISBN 978-1-60606-132-9.
- ↑ Keller, Judith; Maddox, Amanda, eds. (2013). Japan's Modern Divide: The Photographs of Hiroshi Hamaya and Kansuke Yamamoto. Los Angeles: Getty Publications. pp. 8–9. ISBN 978-1-60606-132-9.
- ↑ "Japanese Surrealist Photography: List of Works" (PDF). Contemporary Art Library. Taka Ishii Gallery. p. 4. Retrieved 2026-04-12.