Noritoshi Hirakawa
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese
contemporary artist, film maker, and film producer
. Hirakawa works in a variety of media including photography
, performance
and installation
. He was born in 1960 in Fukuoka
, Japan
and now lives and works in New York
.
Hirakawa's photographs are described as "erotic and intimate". Stating that "the sexual revolution is over and the Puritans won", Hirakawa's work challenges mainstream conceptions of sexuality, and the assumption that expressions of male heterosexual desire are oppressive and objectifying. His architectural photographs, unusually featuring prominent models, challenge the viewer to consider the meaning of architecture on modern urban life. In 2005, a site-specific performance entitled In Search of a Purple Heart, utilising fragments of interviews from Vietnam War
veterans quoted by partially nude performers, was described as an "intense compilation of atmospheres" whose author was "intent on infecting the seductive surfaces that dominate our culture [...] with the rot of our culture’s collective guilt."
Noritoshi Hirakawa has exhibited his work in a variety of galleries, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, the Pompidou Centre, Paris, MoMA PS 1 in New York City, multiple galleries in New York, Kunsthalle Vienna, the Art & Public Contemporary Art Gallery, Geneva, the Gallerie Ferdinand van Dieten in Amsterdam, and in Köln. He was invited to present his work at the SMAK
, Ghent
in Belgium
during the group-exhibition “Casino 2001” and the Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt
included the work “Dreams of Tokyo” in its permanent collection. Hirakawa's work "Woman Children and Japanese" is also in the permanent collection at The Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Art Collection, Turin, Italy.
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
contemporary artist, film maker, and film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
. Hirakawa works in a variety of media including photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
, performance
Performance
A performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which a performer or group of performers behave in a particular way for another group of people, the audience. Choral music and ballet are examples. Usually the performers participate in rehearsals beforehand. Afterwards audience...
and installation
Installation art
Installation art describes an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called Land art; however, the boundaries between...
. He was born in 1960 in Fukuoka
Fukuoka, Fukuoka
is the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture and is situated on the northern shore of the island of Kyushu in Japan.Voted number 14 in a 2010 poll of the World's Most Livable Cities, Fukuoka is praised for its green spaces in a metropolitan setting. It is the most populous city in Kyushu, followed by...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and now lives and works in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Hirakawa's photographs are described as "erotic and intimate". Stating that "the sexual revolution is over and the Puritans won", Hirakawa's work challenges mainstream conceptions of sexuality, and the assumption that expressions of male heterosexual desire are oppressive and objectifying. His architectural photographs, unusually featuring prominent models, challenge the viewer to consider the meaning of architecture on modern urban life. In 2005, a site-specific performance entitled In Search of a Purple Heart, utilising fragments of interviews from Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
veterans quoted by partially nude performers, was described as an "intense compilation of atmospheres" whose author was "intent on infecting the seductive surfaces that dominate our culture [...] with the rot of our culture’s collective guilt."
Noritoshi Hirakawa has exhibited his work in a variety of galleries, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, the Pompidou Centre, Paris, MoMA PS 1 in New York City, multiple galleries in New York, Kunsthalle Vienna, the Art & Public Contemporary Art Gallery, Geneva, the Gallerie Ferdinand van Dieten in Amsterdam, and in Köln. He was invited to present his work at the SMAK
SMAK
The Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst is a relatively new museum located in Ghent, Belgium, and is renowned both for its permanent collection and for its provocative exhibitions.The new museum opened to the public on 7 May 1999...
, Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
during the group-exhibition “Casino 2001” and the Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
included the work “Dreams of Tokyo” in its permanent collection. Hirakawa's work "Woman Children and Japanese" is also in the permanent collection at The Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Art Collection, Turin, Italy.
External links
- Zeno X Gallery - Noritoshi Hirakawa works, biography and cv
- Deitch Projects - Noritoshi Hirakawa - The Reason of Life (1998)
- Deitch Projects - Arto Lindsay, Noritoshi Hirakawa - Shower in the Dark (2002)
- Hirakawa at Wako Works of Art
- The Guardian - Her Dark Materials (2004)
- Nanzuka Underground - Noritoshi Hirakawa