Nobuyoshi Araki is a Japanese photographer and contemporary artist obsessed with women in all shades. Eroticism is a central subject for his extremely popular exhibitions. He is known as one of the most radical and controversial photographers of our time.
The Icelandic musician Björk is an admirer of Araki’s work, and served as one of his models. More recently, he has photographed pop singer Lady Gaga.
His works are held in numerous museum collections including the Tate and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Solo Exhibitions
2011
It Was Once A Paradise, Galerie Alex Daniels – Reflex Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Nobuyoshi Araki ‘PaINting’, Galerie Bob van Orsouw, Switzerland
Kunstler der Galerie, Jablonka Galerie, Germany
2010
Nobuyoshi Araki, Jablonka Galerie, Germany
Araki: A Perspective, Prism, West Hollywood, USA
2009
Nobuyoshi Araki: Bondages, Gerlerie Daniel Templon, France
Nobuyoshi Araki “Sex sells”, Soura Art, Germany
2008
Works, Galerie Aplanat für Fotografie, Hamburg, Germany
Nobuyoshi Araki – Kinbaku, Galerie Jablonka, Berlin, Germany
Araki meets Hokusai, Kestnergesellschaft, Hannover, Germany
Araki Gold, Palais Fontana dei Trevi, Rome, Italy
2007
Nobuyoshi Araki, Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden
Revoir. Nobuyoshi Araki, Carte blanche, Galerie Mennour Kamel, Paris, France
Nobuyoshi Araki – Diaries, Leica Galerie Wien Westlich, Vienna, Austria
Araki – A la vie la mort, Musee de la photographie, Charleroi, Belgium
2006
Polaroids, Galleria Ca di Fra, Milano, Itlaly
FLUTTER, The Approach, London, England, UK
Noboyushi Araki, Taka Ishii gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Nobuyoshi Araki, Anton Kern Gallery, New York, USA
Self.Life.Death, Barbican Art Gallery, London, England, UK
Tokyo/Sexteen 1969-1973, 1973, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany
Langhans Galerie, Prague, Czech Republic
2005
Arakinema, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
Palais de Tokyo, Paris (performance)
Araki, Michael Hoppen Photography, London, England, UK
Nobuyoshi Araki por Adriana Varej�o, Galeria Fortes Vila�a, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Nobuyoshi Araki, Langhans Galerie, Prague, Czech Republic
Nobuyoshi Araki Tokyo Nude, Yoshii Gallery, New York, USA
Nudes, Galleria Anna d�Ascanio, Rome, Italy
2004
Nobuyoshi Araki, De Hallen.Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem
Nobuyoshi Araki, Galeria Javier Lopez, Spain
Hana Jinsei, Kitano Cultural Center, Nagano, Japan
Painting Flower, Epson imaging gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Polaraki, Reflex Modern Art Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Nobuyoshi Araki, Galeria Javier Lopez, Madrid, Spain
2003
Mon journal – photopainting, galerie Kamel Mennour, Paris, France
Nobuyoshi Araki, Il tempo, Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo still life, Tampereen Taidemuseo, Finland
Nabuyoshi Araki, Refex Modern Art Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2002
La nature morte au Japon, Maison de la Photographie, Moscow, Russia
2001
Uen Yanaka Biyori, Gallery J2, Tokyo, Japan
Shosetsu Seoul, Spiral Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Nobuyoshi Araki, Il tempo, Tokyo, Japan
Nobuyoshi Araki, Jablonka Galerie, Cologne, Germany
2000
Erotos, OP fotogallery, Toronto, Canada
Shashin-shijo-shugi, Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Porivacy, Nadiff, Tokyo, Japan
Photo Poche, La Camera, Tokyo, Japan
Nobuyoshi Araki, Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Gent, Belgium)Nobuyoshi Araki, Galerie Almine Rech, Paris, France
Nobuyoshi Araki, Damasquine Art Gallery, Bruxelles, Belgium
Nobuyoshi Araki, Galerie Kamel Mennour, Paris, France
Fussa Love, Galerie Les Trois Agneaux
1999
Nobuyoshi Araki, Scalo Art Space, New York, USA
Ryu u Seki, Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
ALive, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Rebecca Camhi Gallery, Athens, Greece
Polaroids, Gandy Gallery, Praha
1973-1999, Galerie Bob van Orsouw, Cologne, Germany
Nobuyoshi Araki, Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
Araki Nobuyoshi, Il Tempo, Tokyo, Japan
Touren, Toru Maeshima Gallery, Wakayama, Japan
1998
The Past-Fotoarbeiten 1972-73, Stadtisches Museum Leverkusen Schloss Morsbroich, Germany
Nobuyoshi Araki: Tokyo, Stadtisches Klinikum Fulda, Germany
Portraits and Flowers, The Photographers Gallery, London, UK
Tokyo Nostalgia, Galleria Photology, London, UK
Arakinema: Taipei, Yomiuri Culture Salon Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan; Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Arakinema: Erotic Women in Color, Taipei, Taiwan; Bangkok, Thailand
Story Portraits, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
1997
A’s Life, Kachimai Hall, Obihiro; La Foret Harajuku, Tokyo, Japan
Shikijyo, Scalo Book Store, Zurich, Switzerland
Araki Retrographs, Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo
Tokyo Comedy, Wiener Secession, Vienna, Austria
Arakinema: Love Secession, Wiener Secession, Vienna, Austria
Arakinema: Vienna and Tokyo Paradise, Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan
Nobuyoshi Araki, Gallery Starmach, Krakow, Poland
Nobuyoshi Araki, Studio Guenzani, Milan, Italy
1996
Death Reality, Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
The Past 1972-1973, Stadtsparkasse Münster, Germany
Flowers: Life and Death, Nishimura Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo Novel, Egg Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Kain (Shadows of Flowers), Gallery Eve, Tokyo, Japan
Bokujukitan, Jablonka Galerie, Cologne, Germany
Arakinema: Novel Photography, Studio Mouris Roppongi, Tokyo, Japan
Fake Love, Ginza Komatsu, Tokyo, Japan
The Face, The Dead, Pace Wildenstein and Macgill, Los Angeles, USA
A moment in Time, Espace Tag Heuyer, Tokyo, Japan
From Close Range, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles, USA
Private Tokyo, Museum fur Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany
1995
Journal intime, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris, France
Nobuyoshi Araki: A- Diary, Sachin and his brother Mabo, Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris, France
Arakinema: Sentimental Journey/Winter Journey, Sogetsu Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Satchin in Summer, La Foret Museum Harajuku, Tokyo, Japan
Arakinema: Passion in Okinawa, Ryubo Hall, Naha, Okinawa, Japan
Nobuyoshi Araki: Diario Intimo, Encontros de Fotografia, Coimbra, Portugal
Tokyo Novelle, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany
Tokyo Novel/Kiss of Flower, organized by The Morphe ’95, outdoor exhibition in Aoyama district, Japan
Bokuju-Kitan, Strange Black Ink Stories, Jablonka Galerie, Cologne, Germany
1993
The World of Photo-maniac Diary in Colour, Wonderland, Hiroshima, Japan)1993 New World of Love, La Camera, Tokyo, Japan
Erotos, Parco Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
1992
Photo Maniac Diary, Egg Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Kuruma (voiture) de Tokyo, Egg Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Angel’s Festival, Parco Gallery, Tokyo; Sapporo Parc Hokkaido;Shinsaibashi Parco, Osaka, Japan
Arakinema: Angel’s Festival, Parco Theater, Tokyo, Japan
Group Exhibitions
2010 – 2011
Love and Death, Museo d’Arte, Lugano
2008
Body Work, Le Case d’Arte, Milan, Italy
Read my Lips, Peres Projects – Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Nobuyoshi Araki – Hana Kinbaku, Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Araki, Miyamoto, Sugimoto : Japanische Fotografie der Gegenwart, Kunstmuseum, Wolfsburg, Germany
Photographers of Japanese Descent, Galerie Howard Greenberg, New York, USA
2007
Seduced: Art and Sex from Antiquity to now, Barbican Art Gallery, London, UK
Pale Carnage, Arnolfini, Bristol, London, UK
Sus ojos les delatan, Foundacion Foto Colectania, Barcelona, Spain
Blue Chips, Galerie Philipp Konzett, Vienna, Austria
Pale Carnage, Dundee Contemporary Arts – DCA, Dundee, Scotland
2006
Sweet Ecstasy, Nicola von Senger AG, Zurich, Switzerland
Polamaniacs, Photology, Milan, Italy
EROS in der kunst der moderne, foundation Beyeler, Riehen, Switzerland
INTO ME / OUT OF ME, Kunst-Werke Berlin e.V – KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany
Into me / out of me, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island, New York, USA
Why pictures now, MUMUK Museum Moderner Kunst – Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna, Austria
Berlin-Tokyo/Tokyo Berlin. Die Kunst Zweier Stadte, Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany
La region humaine, Septembre de la photographie, Lyon, France
Full House – Gesichter einer Sammlung, Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
XX – Encontras de Fotografia, CAV Coimbra Visual Arts Centre, Coimbra, Portugal
Der Verletzbare Körper, Forum für Fotographie, Cologne, Germany
2005
Blumenmythos-Van Gogh bis Jeff Koons, Fondation Beyeler, Riehen, Switzerland
Contemporanea, Fundacion Juan March, Madrid, Spain
Le Confort Moderne, Poitier, France
Awakening, Aura Gallery, Shanghai, China
Der fotografierte Mensh, Neues Museum, Nürnberg, Germany
Selections from the Hara Museums permanent collection, Hara Museum of contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan
The Ancient Sound of the Image, Palazzo Fontana dei Trevi Rome, Italy
2004
Tokio Comedy, La Fabrica Galeria, Madrid, Spain
Polanographs , Galerie Bob van Orsouw, Zurich, Switzerland
Polanographs + Classics, Galerie M�llerwitt, Aarhus C, Denmark
From Winter to Spring , Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
EIJANAIKA! YES FUTURE! – Le Japon post XXe siecle, Collection Lambert, Avignon, France
Akimahen, Maison Folie de Wazemmes, Lille, France
2003
Wachstum, Schöheit und Vergänglichkeit, Munich, Germany
Nobuyoshi Araki, La Fabrica, Madrid, Spain
Nobuyoshi Araki, Zonca&Zonca, Milano, Italy
Nobuyoshi Araki, Krisal Galerie, Geneva, Switzerland
Araki by Araki: the photographer’s personal selection, Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Love by Leica, Leica Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2002
Araki in Venice, Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venezia, Italy
Seoul Novel-Tokyo Story, Ilmin Museum of Art, Seoul, Corea
Araki Retrospective, a-d Miami, Miami, USA
Oeil pour oeil, figures de l’art contemporain, Le Rectangle, Lyon, France
Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bolzano, Italy; Rupertinum in Salzburg, Austria
The body and the sin, Valencia Biennale, Valencia, Spain
2001
Fact of Love, Hayward Gallery, London, England, UK
Ganjin and photographers from the world, Matsuzakaya Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
See, Take a picture, Express, Setagaya Museum, Tokyo, Japan
Promiscuous Flowers – Robert Mapplethorpe & Nobuyoshi Araki, Niitsu City Museum, Niigata, Odakyu Museum, Shinjuku, Japan
Strategoes-photography of the nineties, Kunsthalle in Kiel, Germany
Kaei, Gallery Art Graph, Tokyo, Japan
Kakyoku, Hanasakan, Kagoshima, Japan
Shikijyo kyo, Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Shosetsu Seoul, Spiral Hall, Tokyo, Japan
2000
Nobuyoshi Araki, Griedervonputtkamer Galerie, Berlin2000 Voyage sentimental, Centre national de la photographie, Paris, France
Sentimental Journey, Centro per l’arte Contemporanea Luigi, Prato, Italy
The arsfuturashow, Ars Futura galerie, Zurich, Switzerland
Bourgeois Hero, Galleria Civica Modena, Modena, Italy Rebecca Camhi, Athens, Greece
Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen -Cities of 21st Century, Bauhaus, Germany
Dessau Foundation and Siemens Kultur Programme, Munich, Germany
Copenhagen Festival, Copenhagen, Denmark
Robert Mapplethorpe Polaroids 1971-74, New works by Nobuyoshi Araki and Saul Fletcher, Yayoi Kusama Walking Piece 1966, Gallery Asprey Jacques, London, UK
Yume no ato-What remained of the dream…, Haus am Waldsee, Berlin, Germany
Gendai: Japanese Contemporary Art-Between the Body and Space, Center for Contemporary Art, Ujadowski Castle, Warsiaw, Poland
Racolta della Forografia Contemporanea, Galleria Civica Modena, Modena, Italy
XL Photography, Deutsche Borse AG, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
1999
Get Together-Art as Teamwork, Kunsthalle Wien am Karlsplatz, Vienna, Austria
Love and Desire, Galleria Photology, Milano, Italy
Change of Scene XV, Musuem für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Spiral TV, collaboration with Vanessa Beecroft, Spiral Garden, Tokyo, Japan
Miyajima, Araki, Sugimoto, Kusama, Studio Casoli&Studio Guenzani, Milano, Italy
Attack, Holland Festival, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Exposition de la collection de la Fondation Cartier, Centre culturel de Belm, Lisbon, Portugal
Collected Works I: Contemporary Art since 1968, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, Germany
Tachikawa International Art Festival ’99, Tachikawa, Japan
Araki Nobuyoshi Sentimental Photography, Sentimental Life, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan
Nobuyoshi Araki: 1969-1999, Galerie Bob van Orsouw, Zurich, Switzerland
1998
Cosmosco, Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Shijyo Tokyo: Markt der Gefühle, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Filtre, Galerie Almine Rech, Paris, France
Love in Winter-with Boris Mikhailov, Satani Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Nuit Blanche, Musee d’art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France; Bergen Billedgalleri Rasmus Meyers Samlinger, Bergen, Norway; Porin TaideMuseo, Pori, Finland; Goeteborgs Konstmuseum, Goeteborg, Sweden
Life, Border, Line – Struth, Penone, Hohenbuchler, Jacobs, Araki, Galerie Paul Andriesse, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Araki VS. Weegee, Gallery Ham, Nagoya, Japan
Searching for the Future Photography, EpSite, Epson Imaging Gallery, Shinjuku, Japan
Hiroshige and Araki, Japonisme Museum, Atami, Shizuoka, Japan
Printemps de Cahors-Photographie & Arts Visuels, Cahors, France
Fuori Uso: 1998-Mostrato, Assozione Culturale Arte Nova, Pescara, Italy
Cho nichijo (Sur-eeryday-life), Shanghai Art Musem, Shanghai, China
Taipei Biennial: Site of Desire, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Car Culture in Photographs of 20th Century, Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts, Kiyosato, Japan
Photographic Diaries, Zagreb Art Pavillion, Croatian Photographic Union, Zagreb, Croatia
Illusionary Botanical Garden, Hiratsuka Museum of Art, Hiratsuka, Japan
The Promise of Photography: The DG Bank Collection, Hara Musem of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan
Fetishes & Fetishism, Passage de Retz, Paris, France
Life is a Bitch, De Appel, Amsterdam, Netherlands
XXIV Bienal de Sao Paulo: Roteiros, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Under/Exposed, Tunnelbana Metro U-bahn, Stockholm, Sweden
1997
Floating Images of Women in Art History: From the Birth of Feminism towards the Reconstruction of Gender, Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, Utsunomiya, Tochigi, Japan
Elvis+Marilyn:2 x Immortal, Sogo Museum, Yokohama, Japan
The 33rd ‘Artists Today’ Exhibition: City Landscapes and Unity in the Plurality, Yokohama Citizen’s Gallery, Japan
Cities on the Move:, WienerSecesion, Vienna, Austria; capc Musee d’art contemporain de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; PS1, New York USA; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark; Hayward Gallery, London, UK; KIASMA Helsinki, Finland
Kain (Sensual Flowers), with Yukio Nakagawa, Gallery Koyanagi, Tokyo, Japan
Nobuyoshi Araki, Dianne Arbus, Nan Goldin, Sammlung Goetz Munich, Germany
Lust und Leere (Desire and the Void), Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna; Austria; Arken Museum für Moderne Kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark; Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany
10th International Biennial of the Image, Nancy Center Culturel, Andre Malraux Vandoeuvre, Nancy, France
Amours, Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris, France
Du Construit, du paysage, Centre Regional d’art contemporain, Sete, France
Polaero, with Larry Clark, Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Sasame Hiroyuki, c/o Hara, 2nd Floor, 4-3-3 Kita Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Art Tower Mito, Obaragi, Japan
Shashin (Photos), Kobe Fashion Musuem, Kobe; Shinjuku Mitsukoshi Museum, Tokyo; Fukuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, Fukuoka, Japan
Nobuyoshi Araki, Galerie Bob van Orsouw, Zurich, Switzerland
Flower Rondo, JM Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
A World of Girls, Il Temp, Tokyo, Japan
1996
Face vs Nude, Aoyama Spiral, Tokyo, Japan
Sensual Flowers, Gallery Eve, Tokyo, Japan
A Moment in Time, Espace Tag Heuer, Tokyo, Japan
Kingdom of Flora, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, USA1996 Prospect 96, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Sex and Crime, Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany
Nobuyoshi Araki, Thomas Struth, Christopher Williams, Larry Clark, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, Switzerland
A Girl floating in the Cosmos, with Gozo Yoshimasu, Marilia and Kazutoki Umezu, Kouchi Prefectural Musuem Hall, Kouchi, Japan
Private Tokyo, Museum fur Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Shiro Kuramata 1934-1991, Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan
Araki and Ten Contemporary Tanka Poets, Gallery Eve, Tokyo, Japan
Nobuyoshi Araki & Michiko Kon, Center for Photography, Carmel, USA
Images of Woman in Japanese Contemporary Photography 1930- 1990, Shoutou Musuem, Tokyo, Japan
1995
The VIth Biennale Internazionale di Fotografia, Todi Palazzo delle Arti, Perugia, Italy
Trame Inquiette (Agli Ordini del Cibo), Promotrice delle Belle Arti, Torino, Italy
The Act of Seeing ( Urban Space)- taking a distance, Fondation pour l’Architecture, Brussels, Belgium
The Dead, National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, Bradford, UK; Horsens Museum, Horsens, Denmark1995 Works by 25 Photographers in Their 20s, Kyosato Museum of Photographic Arts, Kiyosato, Japan
Sites of Being, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, USA
26th Arles International Photo Festival, Des Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie, Arles, France1995 Carnegie International
The Carnegie Museum of Art, Pitttsburgh, USA
Blumenstücke Kunststücke, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
Cities I want to live in, Ginza Guardian Garden, Tokyo, Japan
Death of Flowers, with Eric Andriesse, Galerie Paul Andriesse, Amsterdam, Netherlands1995 Art in Japan Today 1985-1995, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Japan
Ginzabout, The Ginza Art Space, Tokyo, Japan
Texture and Touch: Contemporary Photography from Japan, The Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Vision of Hope and Despair, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, USA
Erotos, Gallery Index, Stockholm, Sweden
Nobuyoshi Araki, Torch, Amsterdam, the Netherlands1995 The First Year of Heisei, Le Garage, Reims, France
Akt-Tokyo Nobuyoshi Araki 1971-1991, Zone Gallery, Newcastle, UK
Naked Novel, Egg Gallery, Tokyo, Japan1995 Dactcho-kun, A Virgin Boy, Space Link, Tokyo, Japan
1994
Private Photography, Yurakucho Asahi Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Akt-Tokyo Nobuyoshi Araki 1971-1991, Nordliga Fotocentret, Oulu, Finland
Sky, Gallery Eve, Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo Cube: Unconscious Tokyo, White Cube, London, UK
Obscene Photographs, Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Nobuyoshi Araki: Private Photography, Jablonka Galerie, Cologne
Body and Memory: Nobuyoshi Araki and Larry Clark, Sala Parpallo Palau Scala, Valencia, Spain
Tokyo Love, with Nan Goldin, The Ginza Art Space, Tokyo, Japan
Of the Human Condition: Hope and Despair at the End of the Tokyo Fine Day, Gallery Verita, Tokyo, Japan
1993
Akt-Tokyo Nobuyoshi Araki 1971-1991, Kunsthal, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Akt-Tokyo Nobuyoshi Araki 1971-1991, Fotografische Sammlung im Museum Folkwang Essen, Germany
Akt-Tokyo Nobuyoshi Araki 1971-1991, Bregenzer Kunstverein, Bregenz, Austria
1992
Photo Maniac Diary, Egg Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Akt-Tokyo Nobuyoshi Araki 1971-1991 , Forum Stadtpark, Graz, Austria
Akt-Tokyo Nobuyoshi Araki 1971-1991, Galerie Fotohof, Mirabellpark, Salzburg, Austria
Car Photographs, Tokyo, Egg Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
State of Things: A Thousand Photographs Exhibited Day by Day , P3 Art and Environment, Tokyo, Japan
