NOBUYOSHI ARAKI

Taka Ishii Gallery (Kiyosumi Tokyo) is pleased to present Nobuyoshi Araki’s solo exhibition EroReal from May 25 to June 22. EroReal will be Araki’s 20th solo exhibition at Taka Ishii Gallery and it will include 50 works, which Araki selected based on the criteria of eroticism and reality.

Magazine pin-ups aren’t interesting, are they? Especially now that they’re shot digitally, they lack eroticism. They’re doing it wrong. That’s why I had to come in. It’s not about an ambiance or concept; it’s about being real. Not realism, but real—ero-real. I have to say it straight. It’s not about nudity; clothed subjects can be erotic. There’s eroticism in the moments before undress and before being tied up. That element of implied eroticism has to be there. An image of a person just sitting in a hotel room can have what I call “erotic presence” because it anticipates the sexual relation that’s going to follow. Trust me, this is what today’s erotic photography needs.

– Nobuyoshi Araki, April 8, 2013

Nobuyoshi Araki’s photographs have always posed questions regarding how one forges relations with others and develops those relations in a meaningful manner. Eros and Thanatos, the fundamental themes of Araki’s works, have been interpreted in numerous ways through the various interpersonal relations he captures in his images. In the works of the current exhibition, Araki argues for the importance of what he calls “ero-real” photography in response to the clichéd visual expressions he sees in the pin-up photography disseminated throughout Japan. For him, the “erotic presence,” which comes into being prior to the development of interpersonal relations, enriches any relationship that follows. We sincerely hope you will take this opportunity to experience the works of Araki, who continues to employ uniquely photographic techniques to capture various moments of human life.