Sex and the single snapper
- Source: Global Times
- [10:00 July 29 2010]
- Comments
A piece from Flowers series.
Although nudity only features in about 20 percent of this exhibition's content there is a sense in which it sexualizes the whole room.
The Shanghart curators have decided to display photographs from all of the four series in a mixed-up fashion and have two spaces that are densely packed with works.
The effect is that the photographs begin to play off each other; for example the moody shot of a cat staring past the camera lens is somehow transformed by the reclining Japanese girl in the photo directly underneath.
Even some of Araki's photographs of flowers and natural settings take on new characteristics in this setting.
This curatorial decision is one favored by Araki, whose extraordinary photographs have been collected in over 300 books. The artist has been quoted as saying: "If I didn't have photography, I'd have absolutely nothing. My life is all about photography, and so life is itself photography."
Gallery visitors are therefore transported through many diverse settings, from scenes depicting Japanese rope-bondage or cramped Tokyo alleys to visions of nostalgia and loneliness.
A small part of the gallery has been sectioned off into a screening area that shows an interesting slideshow/montage of Araki's works, set to a haunting experimental jazz soundtrack.
At times images are layered or morphed together, flowing in an easy, though slightly disturbing manner. One particularly impressive shot in the film reveals a beautiful skyline that is overlaid with numbers of penetrating eyes that seem to stare right through the viewer.
In 1964, Araki was the recipient of the Sun Prize - an important award in the Japanese world of photography, while in 1999 he was selected as one of the jurors for the competition.
The photographer's works have been exhibited worldwide, and recent exhibitions include 69YK at Taka Ishii Gallery (Tokyo, 2009), B/W Bondage at Jablonka Galerie (Berlin, 2008), Araki Gold at l'Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica - Palazzo Fontana di Trevi (Rome, 2007).
Icelandic avant-garde singer-songwriter Björk is an avowed Araki fan and asked the photographer to shoot the cover and inner sleeve of her 1997 remix album Telegram.
In more recent history Araki has taken photographs of pop diva Lady Gaga, and was the focus of a 2005 documentary by Travis Klose entitled Arakimentari.
Date: Until August 21, 10 am to 7 pm
Venue: Shanghart Gallery
香格纳画廊
Address: 796 Huaihai Road
淮海路796号
Admission: Free
Call 3395-0808 for details
