Shinichi Maruyama

Shinichi Maruyama

Photographer & Artist

Works

Nude

2012 – Present

Using high-speed photography to capture the human body in motion, this series explores the ephemeral beauty of movement frozen in time. Each image compresses thousands of discrete moments into a single frame, revealing forms that exist for only fractions of a second — invisible to the naked eye, yet deeply familiar in their grace.

Nude
Nude. Archival pigment print.
Nude
Nude. Archival pigment print.

Full portfolio available upon request through Bruce Silverstein Gallery.

Works

Water Sculpture

2006 – Present

Water, thrown into the air, transforms into sculpture for a fleeting instant. Captured at 1/7,500th of a second, these images reveal the hidden architecture of liquid — forms of extraordinary complexity that emerge from the simplest of gestures and vanish before they can be perceived by the human eye.

Water Sculpture. Archival pigment print.

Full portfolio available upon request through Bruce Silverstein Gallery.

Works

Kusho 空書

2009 – Present

Kusho — literally "writing in the sky" — captures the invisible gestures of Japanese calligraphy suspended in three-dimensional space. Using long exposure and ink-dipped brushes, each image transforms the calligrapher's movement into ethereal traces that hover between writing and sculpture, language and abstraction.

Kusho 空書
Kusho 空書. Archival pigment print.

Full portfolio available upon request through Bruce Silverstein Gallery.

Works

Light Sculpture

2018 – Present

A single drop of liquid falls through a beam of light, splitting into fragments of pure color. Photographed at microsecond exposures, these ephemeral forms become permanent sculptures — the physics of light and fluid transformed into visual poetry.

Light Sculpture
Light Sculpture. Archival pigment print.
Light Sculpture
Light Sculpture. Archival pigment print.
Light Sculpture
Light Sculpture. Archival pigment print.

Full portfolio available upon request through Bruce Silverstein Gallery.

Works

Gardens

2010 – Present

Long exposure studies of the transient nature of gardens — the slow drift of petals, the imperceptible growth of light. These images explore the tension between stillness and movement, between the cultivated and the wild.

Gardens. Archival pigment print.

Full portfolio available upon request through Bruce Silverstein Gallery.

Works

Light Sculpture / Rainbow

2020 – Present

An extension of the Light Sculpture series, these works capture the full spectrum of refracted light as liquid drops pass through concentrated beams — momentary rainbows suspended in mid-air, each unique and unrepeatable.

Light Sculpture / Rainbow. Archival pigment print.

Full portfolio available upon request through Bruce Silverstein Gallery.

Works

Nihonga

2020 – Present

Drawing on the tradition of Japanese painting (日本画), this series explores the intersection of classical technique and contemporary photographic practice — pigment, mineral, and light combined into images that exist between painting and photography.

Nihonga. Archival pigment print.

Full portfolio available upon request through Bruce Silverstein Gallery.

Works

Pole

2015 – Present

The human body as architecture. Using the pole as a structural element, this series documents the extraordinary athleticism and grace of the performer — strength and fluidity rendered visible by high-speed photography.

Pole. Archival pigment print.

Full portfolio available upon request through Bruce Silverstein Gallery.

Works

Cloud

2018 – Present

Long exposure studies of cloud formations over New Zealand — the sky as a canvas for the slow choreography of water vapor, light, and atmospheric pressure made visible over time.

Cloud. Archival pigment print.

Full portfolio available upon request through Bruce Silverstein Gallery.

Works

Landscape / Moon

2019 – Present

The landscapes of New Zealand photographed under moonlight — the world rendered in silver and shadow, familiar yet transformed by the nocturnal light that reveals what daylight conceals.

Landscape / Moon. Archival pigment print.

Full portfolio available upon request through Bruce Silverstein Gallery.

About

My work explores the intersection of time, movement, and perception. Using high-speed photography, long exposure, and various photographic techniques, I seek to reveal moments and forms that exist beyond the threshold of human vision — capturing the beauty that unfolds in fractions of a second, invisible yet ever-present.

Shinichi Maruyama (b. 1968, Nagano, Japan) studied image engineering at Chiba University before working as a freelance photographer in Tokyo from 1993. From 1998 he worked at Hakuhodo Photo Creative before moving to New York in 2003 to pursue his fine art practice. In 2019 he relocated to New Zealand, where he continues to work.

His work has been exhibited internationally at Art Basel, Art Basel Miami Beach, The Armory Show, Paris Photo, and numerous galleries and museums worldwide, including Carnegie Hall (New York), Boghossian Foundation (Brussels), and Blitz Gallery (Tokyo). His photographs are held in permanent collections including The Peabody Essex Museum (Salem, MA), The Crow Collection (Dallas), and Maison Particulière (Brussels).

He is represented by Bruce Silverstein Gallery, New York.

Curriculum Vitae
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2023Moonbows, Bruce Silverstein Gallery, New York
2023Shinichi Maruyama: Photographs 2006–2021, Blitz Gallery, Tokyo
2023新・空間縁起, Informel Museum of Art, Nagano
2019Drawing the Line, Bruce Silverstein Gallery, New York
2013Nudes, Bruce Silverstein Gallery, New York
2011Gardens, Bruce Silverstein Gallery, New York
2011Water Sculpture, Carnegie Hall, New York
2009Kusho, Bruce Silverstein Gallery, New York
2009空書 Kusho, Blitz Gallery, Tokyo
2001SPITI, Gallery Rocket, Tokyo
Selected Art Fairs & Group Exhibitions
2023The Armory Show, New York
2023Shinbism 5, Shinshu Takato Museum, Nagano
2019Paris Photo, Grand Palais, Paris
2014Outside Looking In, Lesley Kehoe Galleries, Melbourne
2013Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland
2013Boghossian Foundation, Brussels, Belgium
2013The Crow Collection, Dallas, USA
2013Paris Photo, Grand Palais, Paris
2011Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami
2010PULSE, Miami
2009Art Basel 44, Basel, Switzerland
2009The Armory Show, New York
2008Paris Photo, Grand Palais, Paris
2007125 Magazine Japan Issue, Paul Smith Space, Tokyo
2007AIPAD, Miami
Collections
The Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA
The Crow Collection, Dallas, TX
Boghossian Foundation, Brussels, Belgium
Maison Particulière, Brussels, Belgium
Education & Career
2019Relocated to New Zealand
2003Moved to New York
1998Hakuhodo Photo Creative, Tokyo
1993Began career as freelance photographer
1991BEng Image Engineering, Chiba University, Japan
1968Born in Nagano, Japan
News
2023
Moonbows — Bruce Silverstein Gallery, New York

New exhibition at Bruce Silverstein Gallery, New York. August 17 – October 17, 2023.

2023
Photographs 2006–2021 — Blitz Gallery, Tokyo

A retrospective spanning seventeen years of work, exhibited at Blitz Gallery in Tokyo. May 11 – July 30, 2023.

2023
The Armory Show 2023 — New York

Presented with Bruce Silverstein Gallery at The Armory Show, September 7–10, 2023, New York.

2023
30th Anniversary Exhibition — Informel Museum, Nagano

新・空間縁起 at Informel Museum of Art, Nagano, Japan. July 27 – August 21, 2023.