Nobuyoshi Araki | Sante D’Orazio

Opening reception: September 13, 6-8pm

September 14, 2017 - October 21, 2017

Yoshii Gallery is pleased to present Nobuyoshi Araki | Sante D’Orazio, an exhibition showcasing the renowned photographers’ iconic large-format works as curated by Sante D’Orazio. He first met Nobuyoshi Araki in Tokyo, 2005. This trip was memorialized in D’Orazio’s 2012 self-published “ARAKI Tokyo and Me” photo book with photographs of the pair gallivanting around in Araki’s karaoke haunt alongside a traditional Japanese wedding held in a shrine – the book juxtaposes vice and virtue. It is no surprise then that both artists have gravitated towards each other, both of their works are lauded for the plethora of their highly stylized, hyper-sensual, beautiful and provocative images. They are receivers, not willfully imposing their personality, visions or ideals onto the world. John Yau writes that the camera, in D’Orazio’s hands, becomes a vessel through which his figures can relinquish themselves as they stop posing for a moment to relax and let their guard down. His subjects trust D’Orazio in a moment that may never again occur, and show the viewers a reality they might not have realized they wanted to show. Araki focuses on the banality of life, taking photographs of “real women” whose lives are full of faults and with a dirty side. Despite coming from vastly different backgrounds – D’Orazio was born in Brooklyn, NY to immigrant parents, while Araki was born in Tokyo, Japan and spent his formative years in wartime and postwar Japan – both artists capture beauty in a classicist way, highlighting it, holding it sacred.

Nobuyoshi Araki was born in 1940 in Tokyo, Japan. He has also been active in publishing, photography and filmmaking. His recent solo exhibitions include Musée national des arts asiatique Guimet, Paris and Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Japan.

Sante D’Orazio was born in 1956 in Brooklyn, New York. He is one of the most important fashion and editorial photographers, producing campaigns for Versace, Tommy Hilfiger, Victoria’s Secrets and L’Oreal. He has exhibited widely in Kunsthaus Munich, Kunsthauswien Vienna and the L.A. County Museum among others. His publications include: A Private View, Sante D’Orazio Photographs, Katlick School and Barely Private. Christie’s Private Show Gallery held a selling exhibition titled Other Graces in 2013 showcasing his photographs over his twenty-year career.