Seen: 梅ヶ丘墓情 Umegaoka Elegy
Who: 荒木経惟 Nobuyoshi Araki
Where:Takai Ishii Gallery Tokyo, Roppongi
When: May 25 – Jun 15, 2018
Araki’s twenty-seventh exhibition at Taka Ishii Gallery in the past twenty-five years is perhaps the first that has just a single image of people in it. The majority of the remaining 89 images in the show center on his comically bizarre combinations of dolls & flowers in his home. Interspersed are views of the sky from his balcony along with a few photographs made in his neighborhood in Umegaoka, Tokyo. Per usual, the large prints are attached directly the wall- no frames or glass between the viewer and the work.
Coinciding with his 79th birthday, the show’s opening reception had live music and cake. Despite the fact that Araki’s age and health currently keep him home most of the time he was quite energetic in the gallery packed full of fans, publishers, former models, and other well-wishers.