Araki Unbound
At the Museum of Sex
We prioritize sexy, sensual stories above all others – if a show isn’t provocative, we give it a Parisian yawn and send it on its way. Here, it is better to cross lines into the disturbed and the offensive than to only cover the pretty and the popular. Aggressive transparency, brutal honesty – these are the attitudes we maintain towards sex, especially in post-#MeToo America.
Our awareness of consent is at an all-time high (regardless of who has yet to get the memo) and with that in mind, when this particular story sprouted on our desk it was too important to file away to the cover-this-when-we-have-nothing-else stack. We’re talking about the show at the Museum of Sex in New York right now, which is on view through August 31 – The Incomplete Araki: Sex, Life and Death in the Works of Nobuyoshi Araki.
This is the first major retrospective in the United States to showcase the career of the notorious and prolific Japanese photographer, who claims to be in pursuit of genuine intimacy through his medium.
“His commitment to the idea that it should be immediate, unflinching, and deeply personal has resulted in a body of work that ranges from the most sexually explicit and controversial photographs to those that expose the vulnerability of love and loss,” says the Museum of Sex. “The installation is accompanied by the personal perspectives of collaborators, muses, critics, fans, and fellow photographers as well as historical artifacts which situate Araki’s work within the social context of art history and postwar Japanese society. Over 400 books, 150 prints and 500 hundred Polaroids are on view–exploring concepts like obsession, ritual, kinbaku-bi, sentimentality, photographer and subject, and of course, controversy.”
But that’s the manicured side of the hand, and we’re interested in what’s hidden between the fingers.
In April 2018, the dancer and former model known as KaoRi, whom Araki used in many of his images, publicly came forward with her side of the story about what really transpired at his photoshoots. Up until that point, rumors swirled that the two were formerly lovers and that the photos were taken under consensual circumstances.
That was a lie.
The truth is that KaoRi was never Araki’s sexual or romantic partner, nor was she provided a fair wage or legal contract for working with him. She had no say in how her body was portrayed, and the working conditions were out of her contro. He created the work in this show without any regard for KaoRi’s discomfort, distress and unhappiness. The #MeToo movement, she says,provoked her to come forward with her truth.
Think about that for a minute.
Without knowing the full story, it would be easy to look at this show and think it was about the people caught inside the photographer’s frame. This time, perhaps more than any other show we’ve covered to date, we implore you to think about the kind of man who was behind the lens.
