Discount Pamono Araki, Shiki in Me, Unique Hand-Painted Photograph

Top Unique Hand-painted Photo-Installation and Mixed Media by Japanese Superstar artist Araki Nobuyoshi (b. 1940)

Nobuyoshi Araki (b. 1940)
Shiki In Me # 8
Acrylic on 9 Black and White photographs
UNIQUE
165 x 134.1 cm (65 x 53 inches) – excluding frame

Excellent condition
Mounted on Aluminum board for best conservation
Framed

Signed on the back on Taka Ishii Gallery label, as usual for mounted photographs.

Best pedigree by top galleries:
Labels of provenance and exhibitions on the back (Taka Ishii Gallery and Yoshii Gallery)

Provenance and exhibition:
Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo
Yoshii Gallery, New York

Literature and Bibliography:
Araki Nobuyoshi, Shiki in Me, Artone, 2006 (ISBN: 978-4861930423)
Araki Nobuyoshi, Arakinema KaoRi 色淫女, 2006 (EAN 4941125693127)

Sold with the Certificate of Authenticity.

Only twenty installations has being created by Araki for this series, making them the rarest artworks by the internationally famous Japanese Photographer.
This one is considered probably the most important one, having Mount Fuji as a subject. Also, the nude photos he carefully chose for this very unique artwork are among the most beautiful and representative of his complete production.

Sale Reference:

Another artwork from the same series (but signed only on the certificate) has been sold on July 13th, 2020 in New York at Phillips, lot 115, for 40,000 USD.

“Shiki in Me” is a unique series by Japanese artist Nobuyoshi Araki that combines photography with painting. This multimedia approach marks a significant evolution in his artistic practice. The title, which can be translated to “Four Seasons in Me,” suggests a personal and cyclical exploration of life, death, and beauty.

Media and Technique
The works in “Shiki in Me” are collages of gelatin silver prints (a type of black-and-white photography), typically arranged in a grid of nine images. Araki then applies hand-applied paint, often vibrant, multicoloured acrylics, directly onto the prints. This process of overpainting his own monochrome photographs is central to the series. The paint can either obscure parts of the image, engage with the subjects, or act as an abstract element that exists alongside the photograph.

Importance in Araki’s Work
The “Shiki in Me” series is of extreme importance because it represents a profound intersection of Araki’s signature themes and his artistic medium. Here’s why:

Eros and Thanatos (Eroticism and Death)
Araki’s work is famously preoccupied with the duality of eros (eroticism) and thanatos (death). By painting over his black-and-white photographs—many of which depict nude or bound female figures—he brings color and life back into what he refers to as the “death world” of a monochrome print. The act of adding paint is a “molestation” of the image, as he has stated, that regenerates the subject, calling to mind a fierce connection between desire and mortality. This tension between capturing a moment (the death of a moment) and then revitalising it is a core theme in the series.

Challenging the Photographic Medium
Araki is a prolific photographer, but in “Shiki in Me,” he goes beyond the traditional bounds of the medium. The series pushes back against the idea of photography as a purely documentary or representational art form. By physically intervening and “molesting” the prints with paint, he destroys the photograph’s status as a pure record of reality. This bold move adds a layer of raw, human emotion and impulse to the work, highlighting the artist’s presence and handiwork.

Personal and Diaristic Style
Araki is known for his diaristic approach to photography, capturing scenes from his daily life. In this series, he adds a personal, gestural element through the painting, making the works even more intimate and subjective. The hand-applied paint strokes serve as an extension of his manic creative energy, creating a unique visual language that is both a record of a captured moment and a reflection of his internal state.