Art Cologne

06 -09 October 2025

Archive

ammann//gallery is thrilled to announce its participation at Art Cologne, 06th – 09th of November 2025. The exhibition will focus on Sumie García Hirata, a Mexican artist and filmmaker of Japanese descent who transitions between still and moving images, exploring landscape as a space where memory inhabits. Based on this objective, she creates works that convey the contradiction seen in landscapes: on the one hand, they are fragile due to their flaws, folds, and fractures, but on the other hand, they possess an overwhelming force that defines them.

ammann//gallery is thrilled to announce its participation at Art Cologne, 06th – 09th of November 2025. The exhibition will focus on Sumie García Hirata, a Mexican artist and filmmaker of Japanese descent who transitions between still and moving images, exploring landscape as a space where memory inhabits. Based on this objective, she creates works that convey the contradiction seen in landscapes: on the one hand, they are fragile due to their flaws, folds, and fractures, but on the other hand, they possess an overwhelming force that defines them.

Unique artworks by García Hirata will be on display, showcasing her exploration of landscape in various forms. One of the featured pieces, “Las Conquistas,” is a photographic diptych enhanced with metallic golden thread embroidery. In this artwork, García Hirata examines the implications of constructing a landscape. Human intervention in a space contributes to the creation of a “place,” introducing concepts such as scale, distance, coordinates, and perspective, which help us understand our position within that space.

The interplay of perspective and scale in the diptych, combined with the embroidery on the photographic surface, emphasises the tension between the image and reality. Like a treasure map, the thread outlines a path leading to the peak of a landscape diorama, reminding us of our presence and the journey toward the illusion that we have conquered the summit.

In “El Quiebre,” García Hirata explores the rugged seascape surrounding a marine spout in northern Mexico. Although the water shoots into the sky, the piece frames a landscape without any visible sky, capturing the tumultuous interaction between the desert and the sea. Located just under 100 km south of the Mexico-United States border, “El Quiebre” signifies a violent break, a fragmentation reflected in both the natural and built environments. The artwork features an intervention with a brass plate that slices through the landscape, reminiscent of the division created by “the wall.”

The exhibition will include a screening of Sumie García Hirata’s documentary ‘Yūrei’ (ghosts), which explores how landscape, time, and secrets shape our personal and national identities. The film delves into the history of Japanese migration to Mexico, the forced relocation of communities, and the effects on descendants, highlighting the painful erasure of collective memory. Ultimately, ‘Yūrei’ represents the artist’s personal journey to understand her heritage through the stories of others, reflecting her quest for belonging within a fading migrant community. Memory and landscape are central themes in García Hirata’s work, and this documentary intertwines personal and collective narratives about identity.

Other artists at our booth include celebrated photographer Hélène Binet, the innovative collective Studio Nucleo, contemporary jeweller and designer Luisa Restrepo, in collaboration with Estudio Cerisola, ceramic artists Kim Syyoung and Abel Zavala. From the gallery’s collection, we will showcase the iconic ‘How High the Moon’ by one of the most influential Japanese designers of the 20th century, Shiro Kuramata.

© Sumie Garcia Las Conquistas courtesy ammann gallery

Las Conquistas Diptych
Sumie García Hirata

year: 2021
material: giclée print on cotton paper intervened with metallized gold thread embroidery. framed in solid sapele wood and acrylic.
measurements: w 63 x d 3 x h 93 cm each
w 24.8 x d 1.2 x h 36.6 inches each
unique