Hiroshi Sugimoto's exhibition 'Form Is Emptiness' opens today at the Singapore Art Museum (SAM), featuring his most famous photographic works alongside a never-before-shown piece. The show includes iconic series like 'Seascapes' and 'Theatres', as well as 'Dioramas' (1975–2025), which trick the eye by depicting natural history displays as wildlife photographs. The exhibition is designed as a looping, mandala-like path that encourages slow, meditative viewing, bending perception through monochromatic walls and subdued light.
The exhibition matters because it distills Sugimoto's five-decade-long inquiry into the nature of time, memory, consciousness, and reality—themes central to contemporary art and photography. By challenging viewers to question how they see the world, 'Form Is Emptiness' offers a rare immersive experience that escapes clichés of 'meditative' art, delivering a genuinely transformative encounter. It also underscores SAM's role in presenting major international artists in Asia.