youki hirakawa
Hot Spring
Hot Spring / 2024
Censored Imported Porn-Magazine from 1960s-70s, Silver Paint
The artwork "Hot Spring/2024," created using black-painted pornographic magazines imported from Unites States in the 1960s to 70s, is based on the artist's distorted longing for Western culture formed during their youth. Some parts of the black paint have been scraped away by the hands of magazine purchasers, allowing glimpses of the original images. The artist says they perceived a connection between the visual desire and eros inherent in art. Historically in Japan, attitudes towards sexuality, including mixed bathing and erotic prints, were relatively open, but the spread of Western values through modernization since the Meiji era expanded to Japan. This artwork evokes various thoughts, including the history of sexuality in Japan and the West, the longing for Western culture, continuing taboos in modern society, the desire to "see," and censorship. The pornographic magazines, painted silver by the artist while leaving some parts black, reflect light and appear in the space as "Hot Spring" of youth.
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