Beginning Monday, May 1, 2023, +ART GALLERY—a gallery where you can experience the cutting edge of contemporary art—will present the solo exhibition "Kinbaku Biso," held by shibari artist Hajime Kinoko to celebrate the release of his new photo book. Please immerse yourself in this exhibition, in which Hajime Kinoko employs "shibari," an art form that has evolved from Japan's traditional aesthetic sensibility and craftsmanship.
■About the Event
+ART GALLERY is pleased to present "Kinbaku Biso," a solo exhibition by Hajime Kinoko—the contemporary artist, shibari artist, rope artist, and photographer widely featured in the media—at +ART GALLERY, directly connected to Shibuya Station.
Held to coincide with the release of the photo book "Kinbaku Biso," the exhibition will offer not only the photo book but also a limited number of photographic works for exhibition and sale, as well as the "bound" three-dimensional pieces he has presented at events such as Art Fair Tokyo.
As a purchaser bonus, when Hajime Kinoko is present at the gallery guests can enjoy a shibari experience (on a part of the body), while when he is away a "special rope handcuff" is given as a gift—an event brimming with rope from start to finish.
*The artist is scheduled to be present from 15:00 to 21:00 on May 1, 4, 5, 6, and 7. Any changes will be announced via social media.
A variety of other goods will also be on sale, and we hope you will take the chance to see them in person.
The venue also features a large rope installation inspired by the "heart," so please enjoy it as a photo spot as well.
A reception party exclusively for photo-book purchasers is scheduled for 18:00 on Monday, May 1.
(To attend, please purchase the photo book at the reception desk.)
The exhibition runs for the one week of Golden Week, so we invite you to step into this extraordinary space.
■Overview
Exhibition: Hajime Kinoko Solo Exhibiton "Kinbaku Biso"
Dates: Monday, May 1, 2023 – Sunday, May 7, 2023
Admission: 500 yen (payable at the venue reception on the day)
Venue: +ART GALLERY (Shops & Restaurants 14F, Shibuya Scramble Square, 2-24-12 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0002)
URL: https://pls-art-shop.com/
Organizer / Venue: plus art co., ltd. Cooperation: Re-Creation co., ltd.
On Monday, May 1, a reception and performance party exclusively for photo-book purchasers is planned. (For details, please check the social media accounts of Hajime Kinoko and plus art.)
■Highlights of Hajime Kinoko's Career
■A Message on the Occasion of the Exhibition: Hajime Kinoko
Thank you for picking up "Kinbaku Biso."
In this photo book, I have gathered highly fashion-oriented shibari.
Pairing shibari with avant-garde fashion, making the shibari itself stylish, or simply creating shibari with strong design appeal—unlike the "beauty of art" found in the rope installations that bind buildings and spaces, I have woven in a "beauty of fashion" that would shine on the runway. I hope you will enjoy seeing what happens when I, having properly mastered the techniques of shibari, use that skill to pursue a fashionable shibari beauty.
I have released several photo books before now. A book of Japanese-style shibari, a book of contemporary-art shibari, a book devoted solely to rope marks (and there are still more if you count them)—each an art book with a different theme. No doubt some have thought, "What an inconsistent fellow."
But for me, shibari is just like eating.
Just as one wants to change the menu—curry yesterday, ramen today—I, too, never want to do the same shibari each time.
Pairing Japanese-style shibari with bamboo, the cyber rope that binds a model in full-body tights with rope that glows under blacklight, and the rope installations that bind and shape buildings and spaces—
by pursuing "always a different shibari," these diverse styles came into being.
When people hear "kinbaku" (shibari), many likely picture a woman in kimono bound with unbleached rope. It cannot be stated as a blanket rule, but in the BDSM scene shibari is indeed often used to torment or defile the person being bound.
My shibari, however, holds no such fixed notions. At its foundation lies art; I apply shibari to adorn the model beautifully, and I delight in the new forms of shibari that arise from it.
This is, in a sense, my way of life.
Enthusiasts often dismiss my work, saying, "It isn't shibari unless it's tied with unbleached rope," or "It isn't shibari unless it's the binding of a bond between people." I can do that kind of shibari too, and I respect and love it. But to have it imposed on me by someone else—that isn't right, is it? Shibari is free.
This isn't limited to shibari. If, like me, you have someone denying what you do, I want to tell you, "Don't let it bother you."
"Binding" and "freedom" are opposite words, yet I think they actually sit side by side.
Because the freedom felt by someone who has been bound, the moment they become free, must be felt far more powerfully than the freedom felt by someone who is already unrestrained.
After the rope is untied, people wear such a refreshed expression on their faces.
All of you, too—whether by your company, your family, time, or relationships—are, to some degree, bound by something. But if you think of that binding as "an essence for feeling freedom," doesn't it feel remarkably positive?
In "Kinbaku Biso," the models' expressions are varied, and the knots I tie are works I created while savoring each moment.
I would be delighted if all of you could fully feel the freedom within binding.
■ARTIST INFOMATION
Hajime Kinoko
Contemporary artist, Shibari master, Rope artist, photographer
Contemporary artist, Shibari master, Rope artist, photographer
Beyond regarding binding as eroticism, he excels at pop interpretations and at elevating it into art, and is especially acclaimed for the unique character of works in which he binds even nature (trees, rocks, and the like) and entire spaces. In recent years, alongside performances, he has energetically presented artworks through photography and film, handling the binding, shooting, and direction in their entirety. He has staged performances and workshops not only in Japan but in more than 20 major cities including Paris, London, and Munich, and enjoys high recognition overseas. He is one of Japan's foremost rope specialists.
Kinoko’s works are evaluated not only as a form of eroticism but also a new conception of pop culture and art especially when it comes to his unique shibari that involves tying trees and rocks in the nature or even an empty room. In recent years, Kinoko has devoted himself to creating artworks with filming and photographing beside stage performances. his artworks which he ties, shoots and directs are gaining recognition as “Art beyond Shibari” and are known both domestically and internationally through his workshops and showcases in major cities of over 20 countries such as Paris, London and Munich. Kinoko is the representative Shibari specialist of Japanese rope art.
<Hajime Kinoko’s SNS>
HP: http://shibari.jp/index.html
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kinoko_shibari/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Shibarijp
■Career / Exhibitions
Career / Exhibitions
2022
[Solo Exhibition] Hajime Kinoko x StandBy Rope Installation @ StandBy, Jingumae
[Exhibition] ART FAIR TOKYO 2022 @ Tokyo International Forum
2021
[Solo Exhibition] Rope Installation of the Labyrinth of Black and Red @ La vie en Rose, Mejiro
[Solo Exhibition] Trajectory @ Sapporo Cultural Arts Community Center
[Exhibition] ART FAIR TOKYO 2021 @ Tokyo International Forum
2020
[Photo Book] Wayo Kinbaku
[Solo Exhibition] Wayo Kinbaku: Miyabi @ Gallery Le Deco
2019
[Solo Exhibition] Hajime Kinoko ROPE INSTALLATION SHOW @ Daimaru Umeda, Osaka
[Exhibition] artKYOTO 2019 @ Former Imperial Villa Nijo Castle
[Photo Book] Oni Kinbaku
[Exhibition] ART FAIR TOKYO 2019 @ Tokyo International Forum
2018
[Photo Book] Perfect Red
[Solo Exhibition] Perfect Red @ Gallery Le Deco
[Exhibition] Daikanyama Photo Fair
[Photo Book] Jokon (Rope Marks)
[Solo Exhibition] Jokon @ BALLOND'ESSAI
[Exhibition] ART FAIR TOKYO 2018 @ Tokyo International Forum
2017
[Exhibition]: ART FAIR TOKYO 2017 @ Tokyo International Forum
[Photo Book]: Hanafuda Kinbaku Bijin
[Solo Exhibition]: Hanafuda Kinbaku Bijin @ Creation Gallery, Nihonbashi Hakozaki
2016
[Photo Book]: Photo Essay Collection "Ichigo Ichie"
[Solo Exhibition]: Until I Become a Matsutake @ Creation Gallery, Nihonbashi Hakozaki
[Photo Book]: Red
2015
[Solo Exhibition]: Red @ Jimbocho Gallery (Tokyo), Shinjuku-za (Tokyo), OYOYO (Sapporo), Little More (Taiwan)
2010
[Solo Exhibition]: Komusume to Himo @ Lovelies Lab, Harajuku
