12.19 – 2010.1.9
Taka Ishii Gallery (Kiyosumi)
2THESKY my Ender 2009
An exhibition staged to coincide with the release of a photo-collection published by Shinchosha of the same title. Since 2 January 2009, Araki has been creating a diary-like series of calligraphy, painting and collage on black and white photographs (mostly of the sky). The curious title derives from his idea that works created by ‘a photographer who forefeels death’ can be called ‘posthumous work’. While life and death have continually featured in Araki’s photography, one can’t help think that learning he had prostate cancer in the autumn of 2008 and undergoing surgery that November, had bearings on this new turn. Yet as Araki says ‘with the premonition of death comes the lust to live’, we might also view it as a new point of departure. A new edition of Arakinema, a film based on the works on display, is also being screened at the gallery.
Information
http://www.takaishiigallery.com/