Turin is hosting the exhibition dedicated to the fascinating Japanese artist who, with his sophisticated style, has been able to communicate and provoke, becoming the symbol of a Japan that is changing, although it remains attached to its traditions.
The Araki Gold exhibition started in November, with its first stage in Rome that ended last February. The exhibition is now continuing in Turin where, after being hosted by the State Archive, more than 500 images will migrate during June and July to a provincial venue, to Villa Remmert (Ciriè).
The works that tell Nobuyoshi Arak’s photographic history were initially brought to Italy by the National Institute for Graphics, which displayed them in Rome. The exhibition took place within the project “Vetrine alla Calcografia” (“Chalcography showcases”), which every year, assigned to a different curator, realizes a display expressly conceived for the National Institute for Graphics whose objects are design, printing or photography. This year it has been Nobuyoshi Araky’s turn, with an event edited by Filippo Moggia. This poetic collection of shots is now moving to Ciriè, in the province of Turin. Villa Remmert will house the photos from 13th June to 27th July.
Nobuyoshi Araki’s artistic career, which started with a brief debut in painting, soon turned towards photography, which is now the almost exclusive means chosen by the artist to express his sophisticated sensitivity. The artist deals with different genres and uses polyhedric styles. He has gone so far as to realize “bondage” nudes, the series that has made him world famous, he has gone beyond boundaries considered scandalous by some people, becoming renowned as the photographer on the verge of pornography. Women wearing traditional clothes appear half-naked, held by ropes and often tied to beams, with expressions marked by calm disquiet. An image that reflects the two faces of Japan, a male-chauvinistic society in which the myth of the geisha still lives. Deeply moving images, rich in a sort of cutting poeticality.
Even these shots will be on display, next to the series “Tokyo Diary 2003-2007”, “Some Stories”, “Ginza” and “Flowers”. Some of the works presented are unpublished; the artist himself has taken part in the selection of the images. Furthermore, his polaroids will be exposed, including the ones realized in Rome.
It is impossible not to remain fascinated by the tormenting sensuality of the images proposed by the artist, which seem to reflect a country projected towards modernity but attached to its decadent roots. A loved and appreciated artist even by the market, with a record of 42,000 dollars paid out for one of his works in 2004 at a Phillips auction in New York, for the photo  “Tokyo Cube” executed in 1994.
There is great interest for this great master of photography also in Italy. His photos will make up the first core of the collection of contemporary photography for the Savings Bank Foundation of Modena. Furthermore, it will be present in various exhibitions including Daily Living at the Angel Art Gallery of Milan. Many galleries will display the artist’s works, including Duetart Gallery in Varese, Elleni in Bergamo and Pu-Rì in Mondolfo.

(translated by Giorgina Arcuri)