Born in 1940 in Tokyo, Nobuyoshi Araki is a Tokyo-based photographer known for his diaristic capturing of everyday life. His photographic project “Satchin” earned him the prestigious Taiyo Award in 1964, shortly after he had joined the advertising agency Dentsu, where he worked until 1972. Voluptuous flowers, nudes in bondage, skyscapes, food, Tokyo streets, his pet cat - bringing out the intense Eros and Thanatos of such subjects, Nobuyoshi Araki has established his own photographic world, and in turn received high praise at home and abroad as a standard-bearer of Japanese photography.
His solo exhibitions include “Akt-Tokyo: Nobuyoshi Araki 1971-1991”, Forum Stadtpark, Graz (1992); “Journal intime”, Fondation Cartier pour I’art contemporain, Paris (1995); “Tokyo Comedy”, Wiener Secession, Vienna (1997); “ARAKI Nobuyoshi Sentimental Photography, Sentimental Life”, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (1999); “Nobuyoshi Araki”, Stedelijk Museum voor Actuelle Kunst, Gent (2000); “Tokyo Still Life”, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham (2001); “Suicide in Tokyo”, Italian Pavilion, Italia, Giardini di Castello, Venice (2002); “Hana-Jinsei”, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo (2003); “NOBUYOSHI ARAKI: Self, Life, Death”, the Barbican Art Gallery, London (2005); “Nobuyoshi Araki Photobook Exhibition: Arākī”, IZU PHOTO MUSEUM, Shizuoka (2012); “The Photography Book of Rebirth in the Pure Land / Face, Skyscape, Road”, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Aichi (2014); “ARAKI Ojo Shashu - Photography for the After Life: Alluring Hell” Foam Photography Museum, Amsterdam (2014); “ARAKI”, Musée national des arts asiatiques Guimet, Paris (2016); “ARAKI Nobuyoshi: Photo-Crazy A”, Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery, Tokyo (2017); “ARAKI Nobuyoshi: Sentimental Journey 1971-2017-”, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Tokyo (2017).
Araki is a recipient of the 54th Mainichi Art Award (2012); the Austrian Decoration of Honor for Science and Arts (Austrian Embassy, 2008); Shashin-no-kai Prize from the Photographic Society of Japan (1990); the Taiyo prize for “Satchin” (1964).
