The 6th
Rathole Gallery's Second Event: Nobuyoshi Araki Exhibition

From "Kinbaku Shaken." © NOBUYOSHI ARAKI

The genius Nobuyoshi Araki paints over his own photographs!

Rathole Gallery's inaugural event, the "Daido Moriyama Exhibition it," successfully concluded on November 19th. Since the 22nd, we have been hosting the second event, the "Nobuyoshi Araki Exhibition." From this issue onwards, I intend to discuss this exhibition and what Araki-san means to me.

The centerpiece of this exhibition is the series "Kinbaku Shaken." It features monochrome photographs of bondage, over which Araki-san has ejaculated paint, creating works of immense immediacy. One could say it captures the very moment of his creative release through his own photographs.

An Encounter, and the Question of Whether It's Right to Have Both?

From "Flower and Yamolinsky." © NOBUYOSHI ARAKI

My connection with Araki-san also began through Hysteric G. photo books. Shortly after releasing Daido Moriyama's "Ao Daido," a magazine featured a dialogue between Moriyama-san and Araki-san. In it, he enthusiastically praised "Ao Daido," not just Moriyama-san's photography itself, but also its innovative form as a book. He spoke with his characteristic fervor, saying, "This thickness, this size, and yet it's a softcover that you can roll up and carry in your pocket. This is wonderful!"

After that, we published several photo books, alternating between Moriyama-san and Watatani-kun. During that time, both Araki-san and we were aware of each other, though unspoken. However, Araki-san was in high demand back then, and I felt a hesitation, as if we, who were closely collaborating with Moriyama-san, would be greedy to also work with Araki-san, like trying to have both the Stones and the Beatles.

Yet, when I actually reached out, Araki-san responded with something like, "Oh, you've finally come!" It was through such circumstances that we were able to release "Sarashi" in 1999, a feat made possible by the mutual respect between Araki-san and Moriyama-san.

■ Nobuyoshi Araki Exhibition

Dates: Wednesday, November 22, 2006 – Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Hours: 12:00 PM – 8:00 PM (Closed Mondays)
Venue: RAT HOLE GALLERY
B1F, HYSTERIC GLAMOUR Aoyama, 5-5-3 Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku
TEL: 03-6419-3581

Content: The exhibition is comprised of four series: "Flower and Yamolinsky," "LOVE," "Kinbaku Shaken," and "ARAKINEMA."
Concurrently, the latest series of "ARAKINEMA" (a cinematic version of Araki's photographs), "Kinbaku Shikin," created with "Kinbaku Shaken" as its motif, will be exhibited for the first time.
Coinciding with the exhibition, the art book "LOVE by Leica" and T-shirts featuring original drawings will be available for purchase.

RAT HALE GALLERY: http://www.ratholegallery.com
HYSTERIC GLAMOUR Official: http://www.hystericglamour.jp
Bueno! Books: http://www.buenobooks.com