Art Department

Prism's Araki: A Perspective

March 9th, 2010 by

Mui-Hai Chu

Withstanding cold and rain and pre-Oscar's traffic, PC Valmorbida and Jared Najjar's Prism gallery's sophomore exhibition, this time on world-renowned Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki, drew in a distinctively stylish international set. Although no Carine Roitfled this time, Fiat-heir and one of the most stylish men alive, Lapo Elkann was in attendance, along with the handsome Adrian Brody, Marisa Tomei, Stavros Niarchos, and Liz Goldwyn.

PC Valmorbida and Jared Najjar with friends

The main feature, however, Araki's stunningly vivid, provocative, and at-times disturbing photographs took central focus. The cool three-story architectural space was filled with photos of women tied in kinbaku, the intricate Japanese "tight-binding" art, which might have just looked like typical bondage knots to the untrained eye. A favorite was of a girl in the nude, only wearing the imprints of a wire wrapping around her nipples, stomach, pelvis, and arms. An installation in the center of the first floor showed several small prints lined up in long rows and columns inside a glass wall with the light shining brilliantly through the photos. Another wall featured only richly-colored ripe flowers, another favorite subject of Araki's, which may, to some, be even more erotic than the photos of kinbaku-bi.

Overall, "Araki: A Perspective" is a definite must-see, with approximately 70 photos in the exhibit and sure to stir up controversy and be thought-provoking. And if you haven't yet seen the new Prism, which first introduced itself to L.A. late last year in November, now is the time. It's an amazing architectural space built by Marcelo Spina and Georgina Huljich of PATTERNS in conjunction with 3Form material solutions and is the first structure in the U.S. to be built of resin-based polycarbonate in entirety. Prism also is soon looking to incorporate lectures, film viewings, roundtables, and a bookshop of curated texts and products, so there'll be plenty to look forward to with this exciting gallery.