Today we’re presenting two new photographic works from Marco Bettoni’s ‘Tokyo Lights’ series.
Tokyo is a place that stays with you after just one visit due to its iconic diversity and spectacular energy.
Marco Bettoni’s fascination with Japan came about when he began visiting his wife’s family there; having grown up in Italy, and later spending many years in London where he still resides, it was quite a change to what he was used to.
He soon became immersed in the culture, the beautiful landscape and the intensity of the cities, and much of his work became very much focussed on his new geographical discovery, most significantly the ‘Tokyo Lights Series’ we’re addressing today.
To those who have never been to the city, the distinctive single illuminated structures that feature in each piece look like intricately-designed sculptures, superbly poised to achieve the perfect reflection on their polished plinths. Regular Tokyo-visitors will however recognise these distinctive objects as the signs that sit on the roofs of taxis that drive around the city 24 hours a day. By taking these signs out of the context of everyday life and presenting them as art, Bettoni’s thought-process is not dissimilar to that of many conceptual artists who came before him, which many believe began with Marcel Duchamp and his 1917 urinal piece almost 100 years ago.
Each representing various different taxi companies, the signs feature anything from lucky cats, crescent moons, trees and flowers to stand out as much as they can amongst the bright lights of the big city. It is easy to love the way Bettoni puts his personal touch on some of the works, such as
Tokyo Lights Series (Elefantino II) where he includes a nod to his Italian heritage in the title, and in
Tokyo Lights Series (Pegasus) where similarly a Latin reference is used when describing the image of the horse.
The two most recent pieces in the series are
Tokyo Lights Series (World) and
Tokyo Lights Series (Sunset), which were photographed during a recent visit to the city. There’s something quite pleasing about the perfect sphere represented in the latter, which really does appear like a setting sun above water as it sinks into its warm amber reflection.
Colourful, vibrant and exquisitely executed, the Tokyo Lights present an excellent example of well-designed, stylish Japanese graphics, while encouraging us to take notice of the beauty that surrounds us in our busy lives.
Working well as individual prints or as multiples in a choice of two different sizes, see the full series in more detail
here.