Seen: Rakuen Nippon楽園日本
Who: Nobuyoshi Araki 荒木経惟
Where: Art Space AM, Harajuku (map)
When: January 11 - March 3, 2022 (Open 1-7pm. Closed Mondays, Tuesdays)
Titled 楽園日本 (Paradise Japan), Nobuyoshi Araki’s new show at Art Space AM plays on the riff of the Japanese hinomaru flag motif used this time in his latest round of doll/flower photographs.
The use of Japan’s national flag can be fraught with implications in Art- too many to get into detail here- but Araki’s use of the the Japanese flag in his work over the past six decades has never been political- indeed, I don’t think he’s ever had a political thought in his mind.
Purposefully uninterested in such matters then, his use of the flag is subversively comical- and in no way a statement on government or history.
If you don’t chuckle aloud a few times in this show, I don’t know what to say. It’s full of his legendary absurdist humor punctuated with moments of bizarre beauty.
Per usual, the gallery space is a work of art in its own right. For best results, visit once the sun has set.