BDSM MEDIA NEWS!!!!
16 september 2011
Controversial Photographer Nobuyoshi Araki's Solo Show Opens in Singapore
Source: www.thejakartaglobe.com - The Jakarta Globe - Indonesia
SINGAPORE - Japanese cult photographer Nobuyoshi Araki is no stranger to controversial subjects ranging from pop superstar Lady Gaga to voyeuristic images of nudes in bondage.
A solo show of his works is on now in Singapore, and while it steers clear of extremely risque shots that have opinions split as to whether the artist is pornographic or a genius, it does reveal his fascination with kinbaku, the traditional Japanese form of bondage.
It involves the intricate knotting of ropes which leaves a specific pattern on the skin.
The exhibition, titled Nobuyoshi Araki: All Women Are Beautiful, is on at Galerie Steph in Tanjong Pagar Distripark. There is no parental advisory, but some images featuring women in the nude are graphic in nature.
The images of Gaga in highly stylized black-and-white kinbaku portraits, and which boosted his cult-celebrity status, are not on view in Singapore.
What visitors will see is how Araki uses monochrome, color film and Polaroid snapshots to capture flowers, women in the nude and cityscapes.
Sometimes, he paints on his photographic prints to add color and layers to the work, such as in the series titled Lewd Painting. It features images of women in kinbaku suspended from the ceiling, lying on a table or tied to a tree.
In earlier interviews, he has said that he sleeps with his female models, because the relationship between the subject and the lens is so intimate and that intimacy is apparent in several images on display.
Gallerist Stephanie Tham was drawn to his work when she picked up a nude photograph from his Novel Photograph series in London four years ago. The photograph went into storage and is now on display in the exhibition.
The 41-year-old gallerist says: "It struck me because it is a very beautiful image. When I bought it, I knew if I had a gallery space, I would present a solo show by Araki."
To mount this exhibition, she partnered Lisa Botos of Ooi Botos gallery in Hong Kong. They looked through hundreds of images before deciding on the 22 that make up the show. They are priced between $760 and $18,000.
"We wanted to focus on beauty and not pack in too much," says Tham.
One striking omission is photos of his muse and late wife Yoko, who died at the age of 42 in 1990 from ovarian cancer.
However, there are two photographs of clouds, and in the foreword of the exhibition catalogue, Dr Charles Merewether, director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore at the Lasalle College of the Arts, writes: "In this space the imagination is set free, a space in which to dream and the promise of desire and of death meet."
Born in 1940, Araki graduated from the photography department of Chiba University in 1963 and worked for prominent Japanese advertising firm Dentsu for nine years before branching out.
He has published more than 350 photography books and held exhibitions worldwide to emerge as one of Japan's most prolific and popular photographers.
This is not the first time his photos have been displayed in Singapore.
In 2005, they were the subject of a solo show for the first time at Epson's epSite gallery in Wheelock Place and at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Nafa).
Bridget Tracy Tan, who had curated the 2005 Nafa show, says there was no negative reaction to the works displayed.
Calling Araki a "rough genius", she says "his works are not for everybody. A lot of them are sexually charged or are about death".
Nobuyoshi Araki: All Women Are Beautiful
Where: Galerie Steph, 01-05 Tanjong Pagar Distripark, 39 Keppel Road
When: Until Oct. 23, noon to 7pm (Tuesdays to Saturdays). Viewing on Sundays is by appointment only
Info: Call 9176-8641 or go to
www. galeriesteph.com.
