In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander month (May), Metro Art invites you to pause, take a deep breath and surrender to the serene images of Hiroshi Watanabe’s photograph series, Namonai Ike. 

“Namonai ike” in Japanese means “a pond with no name.” Known for its picturesque beauty, this village pond in the middle of Japan is neither named or marked on a map. When Watanabe ventured here, he felt a sense of tranquility – time ceased. 

These artworks are on view at Vermont/Beverly Station as part of the Metro Art Photo Lightbox Series.

“The shoal of fish continually moved in harmony, as if each fish had a destination. […] the fish are like humans with places to travel everyday.” — Hiroshi Watanabe 

About the Artist

HIROSHI WATANABE (b. 1951, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan) earned a degree in photography from Nihon University and a Master of Business Administration from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Watanabe’s work has been shown across the United States and internationally. His photographs are in the permanent collection of numerous museums including the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, George Eastman Museum, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, J. Paul Getty Museum, San Jose Museum of Art, New Mexico Museum of Art and Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Learn more about the photo series.

About the Photo Lightbox Series  

Initiated in 2001, the Metro Art Photo Lightbox Series is a program that produces temporary photography exhibitions to engage a broad range of Metro riders on their daily commute. Lightbox displays are photographic transparencies arranged on illuminated boxes installed at these Metro stations: 7th St/Metro Center Station, Hollywood/Highland Station, Universal/Studio City Station, Vermont/Beverly Station and Wilshire/Normandie Station.

About Metro Art    

Metro Art enhances the customer experience with innovative, award-winning visual and performing arts programming that encourages ridership and connects people, sites and neighborhoods throughout LA County. A diverse range of site-specific artworks are integrated into the growing Metro system, improving the quality of transit environments and creating a sense of place.    

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