RAT HOLE GALLERY | Nobuyoshi Araki Exhibition 'Higan' Held at Rat Hole Gallery!

RAT HOLE GALLERY

Approximately 450 of Araki's Latest Works

Nobuyoshi Araki Exhibition: "Higan"

An exhibition featuring the latest works of Nobuyoshi Araki will be held at RAT HOLE GALLERY. Monochrome photographs taken through the window of a taxi overlooking the streets of Tokyo,Great East Japan Earthquakecolor photographs taken in the immediate aftermath, and works from the "Rakuen" series, which features flowers photographed with kaiju figures, totaling approximately 450 pieces, will be on display.

Text by YANAKA Tomomi

Works Imbued with Araki's Various Thoughts on "Lost Time"

This exhibition, titled "Higan," brings together over 450 of the latest works by Nobuyoshi Araki, also known as Araki, a globally renowned photographer representing Japan. Araki, who constantly senses "death within life" and strives to find joy and nostalgia in his photographs, speaks of a sentimental world of "Higan" in this exhibition.

Approximately 400 cabinet-sized photographs, arranged in a grid on the walls, were taken through the window of a taxi during the summer of 2010, a period of record-breaking heat, while Araki was undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.

Araki has long continued similar photographic endeavors in his "Kurumado" series. However, the works exhibited here were shot with a 200mm telephoto lens. Overlapping a sense of "loss" onto the everyday scenes of the city, Araki turns his lens towards various people, as if gazing at or being gazed upon from the other shore.

The Death of Chiro, His Beloved Cat of Many Years──

Approximately 40 works, which began to be photographed after the earthquake, and 10 large prints from the "Rakuen" series are exhibited. For Araki, who has frequently stated since March 11th, "This world itself is the other shore. In other words, the photograph itself is the other shore," it is no exaggeration to say that both series represent his approach to photography in the post-earthquake era.

In the works featuring vibrant, passionate flowers alongside kaiju figures and dolls inhabiting his home balcony, one can perceive Araki's unique perspective on life and death, as he states, "There is paradise even within the other shore."

All photographs in this exhibition were taken after last spring, when his beloved cat,Chiro, his beloved catpassed away. It can be said that each photograph is imbued with Araki's various thoughts on "lost time."

Nobuyoshi Araki Exhibition "Higan"
Dates: Friday, July 22, 2011 – Sunday, September 25, 2011
Venue: RAT HOLE GALLERY
5-5-3 Minamiaoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo B1
Tel. 03-6419-3581
www.ratholegallery.com

A photobook titled "Higan" will be published by RAT HOLE GALLERY to coincide with the exhibition!

"Higan"(200 pages total)
Price: 5,250 yen (tentative)
Release Date: Friday, July 22