CURRENT EXHIBITION
ON VIEW
ARTIST FOCUS: AYA FUJIOKA & ALEXA HOYER
Hoyer’s Portrait by Hyewon Park
SEIZAN Gallery presents the works of two visionary female photographers, Aya Fujioka and Alexa Hoyer. Signature series by both artists are currently on view in the gallery’s project space, offering distinct yet complementary perspectives on place, memory, and overlooked narratives.
Aya Fujioka
Aya Fujioka
Here Goes River (112), 2017
Edition 3 of 8
Chromogenic print
25.8 x 39 in (65.5 x 99 cm)
29 x 42.5 in (73.7 x 108 cm) Framed
Aya Fujioka
Here Goes River (47), 2017
Edition 1 of 8
Chromogenic print
11.8 x 13.4 in (30 x 34 cm)
15 x 21 in (38.1 x 53.3 cm) Framed
Aya Fujioka is a quiet master of capturing the everyday. Her work bypasses the pursuit of a single “decisive moment,” instead embracing a succession of peripheral, intimate scenes. These seemingly mundane images form subtle narratives, either revealing a relationship between artist and subject or liberating the subject from traditional storytelling.
Fujioka’s approach is deeply rooted in Japan’s “Shashinshu” tradition—a form of photobook regarded not as a supplement to an exhibition but as an art object in its own right. In contrast to Western photobooks, often treated as catalogs or archival records, the Japanese Shashinshu is a storytelling medium where meaning is built through a sequence of images. Fujioka has published several of these with AKAAKA, a leading Japanese art publisher specializing in this genre.
On view is Here Goes River, Fujioka’s career-defining series and the recipient of the prestigious Kimura Ihei Photography Award in 2018. Set in the delta region of her hometown, Hiroshima, the series uses quiet, reflective imagery to explore themes of trauma, resilience, and the passage of time—traces of the city’s past gently echoing through its present.
Born in Hiroshima in 1972, Fujioka studied photography at Nihon University College of Art in Tokyo. Supported by a cultural scholarship from the Japanese government, she lived in New York from 2007 to 2012, where she developed her series Still Lives. Upon returning to Hiroshima, she completed Here Goes River, earning further accolades including the Hayashi Tadahiko Award. Her work has been exhibited at major institutions such as the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, The National Art Center in Tokyo, and Hiroshima Prefectural Museum. She currently lives and works in Kyoto, Japan.
Alexa Hoyer
Alexa Hoyer
Dish on Tube, 2017
Edition of 10, 2 AP
Archival Pigment Print
30 x 24 in (76.2 x 61 cm)
Alexa Hoyer
Log and Leg, 2017
Edition of 10, 2 AP
Archival Pigment Print
30 x 24 in (76.2 x 61 cm)
Alexa Hoyer is a visual artist and curator whose photographic projects explore overlooked or ephemeral aspects of both urban and rural environments, capturing unexpected narratives found in public and often unconventional spaces. Based in New York City, Hoyer has explored a wide range of subjects—from handmade window displays in Havana (Montaje al Aire), to boarded-up storefronts during Manhattan’s COVID-19 lockdown (Window Dressing), to the curious emptiness of Queens’ tree beds (Fallow Frames). These projects often involve local communities and highlight the interplay between improvisation, identity, and environment.
In Montaje al Aire, Hoyer collaborated with three decorators responsible for window displays in Havana, showcasing their creative ingenuity despite scarce resources. Fallow Frames evolved into a local biennial, transforming empty tree beds into unconventional exhibition sites for neighborhood artists. Across all her projects, Hoyer frames these unassuming subjects with humor, sensitivity, and a deep awareness of their social context.
On view is Targets, a striking series featuring makeshift gun targets left behind in the Nevada desert. At unregulated shooting sites near Las Vegas, everyday objects—wooden cutouts, plastic containers, old signs—are transformed into bullet-riddled relics. Hoyer’s images highlight the eerie beauty, absurdity, and tension embedded in these discarded artifacts.
Originally from Hamburg, Germany, Hoyer is now based in New York City. She holds a BFA from Webster University in St. Louis, MO, and an MFA from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, PA. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at PS122 Gallery (NY), Mana Contemporary (NJ), the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (TX), Les Rencontres d'Arles (France), PHOTO IS:RAEL, Inside Out Art Museum (Beijing), and Eastern State Penitentiary (PA). She was a recent resident artist at Fondazione MACC in Italy as well as LMCC in New York and received the 2025 Flushing Town Hall Arts Grant for Queens, and the 2023 NYFA QAF New Work Grant. Her photography has appeared in Hyperallergic, Urban Omnibus, Vice, Harper’s Magazine, Wall Street International, DOMUS, and more. She is currently working on a monograph of her work with Fondazione MACC to be published in June 2025 and in 2022, her project Wegweiser was published by Kenektid in Seoul, South Korea.
For inquiry, contact info@seizan-gallery.com