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Eikoh Hosoe "Ordeal by Roses (1961, 1962)"
Nishimura Gallery
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Artists
Eikoh Hosoe
Born in Yamagata Prefecture in 1933 and raised in Tokyo, Hosoe graduated from the Tokyo College of Photography (now Tokyo Polytechnic University) in 1954, and formed the agency, VIVO, in 1959 with Shomei Tomatsu, Ikko Narahara, Kikuji Kawada, and others. In 1960, Hosoe won the Newcomer’s Award of the Photographic Society of Japan for his solo exhibition “Man and Woman” at Konishiroku Photo Gallery, which expressed human “life” and “sex” with Tatsumi Hijikata, the founder of the Butoh dance movement, as its subjects, in 1963, he received the Photographic Society of Japan Award for his photo book of Yukio Mishima “Ordeal by Roses” (Shueisha), original prints of which will be exhibited at our gallery this time, and has quickly established himself as a figure who brings new horizons to photographic expression. He has continued to produce many innovative works that have left an important mark on the history of photography, including “Kamaitachi” (1969, Gendai Shichosha), in which he photographed Hijikata in various locations in Akita and Tokyo, while at the same time focusing on training younger photographers as a professor at Tokyo Polytechnic University and the first director of the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts. He has led the Japanese photographic world.
The “Ordeal by Roses” was shoot from the fall of 1961 to the spring of 1962 by Eikoh Hosoe, who was 28 years old at the time, with Yukio Mishima, an unparalleled literary figure, as his subject and with the theme of “life” and “death.”
Daido Moriyama, who was still in his early twenties, participated as an assistant in the shoot, which took place at Mishima’s residence and Hijikata’s studio, improvising with a mallet and rubber hose from Mishima’s residence as props, or preparing a fabric painting of the erased upper body of Venus in Giorgione’s “Sleeping Venus” and fusing it with Mishima’s body, Hosoe’s theatrical talent, which flexibly incorporates meticulous conception and on-the-spot contingency, was eloquently demonstrated, and also in the darkroom, he used high-contrast and photomontage techniques to combine multiple films. In this way, he maximized Mishima’s appeal as a model, with his radiant aura and unfathomable fictionality.
This exhibition will feature approximately 20 prints, including rare old prints from 1985 and more recent modern prints, from “Ordeal by Roses,” which still retains a glowing reputation in Japan and abroad 60 years after its release and is an unsurpassed shimmering icon that represents Mishima.
The “Ordeal by Roses” was shoot from the fall of 1961 to the spring of 1962 by Eikoh Hosoe, who was 28 years old at the time, with Yukio Mishima, an unparalleled literary figure, as his subject and with the theme of “life” and “death.”
Daido Moriyama, who was still in his early twenties, participated as an assistant in the shoot, which took place at Mishima’s residence and Hijikata’s studio, improvising with a mallet and rubber hose from Mishima’s residence as props, or preparing a fabric painting of the erased upper body of Venus in Giorgione’s “Sleeping Venus” and fusing it with Mishima’s body, Hosoe’s theatrical talent, which flexibly incorporates meticulous conception and on-the-spot contingency, was eloquently demonstrated, and also in the darkroom, he used high-contrast and photomontage techniques to combine multiple films. In this way, he maximized Mishima’s appeal as a model, with his radiant aura and unfathomable fictionality.
This exhibition will feature approximately 20 prints, including rare old prints from 1985 and more recent modern prints, from “Ordeal by Roses,” which still retains a glowing reputation in Japan and abroad 60 years after its release and is an unsurpassed shimmering icon that represents Mishima.
Schedule | Jun 13 (Tue) 2023-Jul 8 (Sat) 2023 Opening Hours Information
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| Fee | Free | ||||
| Website | http://www.nishimura-gallery.com/細江英公-薔薇刑より-1961-1962/ | ||||
| Venue | Nishimura Gallery | ||||
| Location | 9F Nihombashi Nikko Bldg., 2-10-8 Nihombashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0027 | ||||
| Access | 2 minute walk from exit B4 at Nihombashi Station on the Ginza line, 2 minute walk from exit C4 at Nihombashi Station on the Tozai line, 2 minute walk from exit D4 at Nihombashi Station on the Toei Asakusa line. | ||||
| Phone | 03-5203-2800 | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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