Japanese Gay Art

Gengoroh Tagame has a solo show coming up in Tokyo. If you’re in Japan in August make sure you check out his exhibition.

‘Works’ by Gengoroh Tagame
9 to 21 August
Vanilla gallery
4F dai 2 Kamata building 6-10-10, Ginza, Cyuuou-ku ,Tokyo
Entrance fee 500Yen

Mr. Tagame will be giving a talk on the 14th of August at 17:00, entrance fee 1,500 Yen.

I caught up with Mr. Tagame recently and soon I’ll have new works of his available for you.

With Gengoroh Tagame in Tokyo

I caught up with Jiraiya the other day in his home town. It was the first time I’d met him and it was great to meet such a welcoming guy. He gave me good news, soon I’ll be able to provide some new works of his for sale. I’ll keep you posted and upload pictures when they’re available.

Here’s a photo of me and Jiraiya. He’s a private guy. Such is Japan.

With Jiraiya in Japan

Just before heading off to Japan I gave a presentation at the queer bookstore Hares & Hyenas in Melbourne where I had been exhibiting some art. A monthly book club is held there, and this month they asked me to talk about queer art in Japan as well as the artists on display. I talked about a variety of topics, including; how homosexuality was considered in Japan prior to Western influence, publications which influenced gay culture in modern Japan such as Barazoku and G-Men, other publications such as Gengoroh Tagames ‘Erotic Japanese Art’, artists such as Okutsu Naomichi and Jiraiya, as well as Dojinshi (independent publishing groups).

Big thanks to Alex from Hares & Hyenas for organising, and to Rowland and Crusader for their support of my show. Also for everyone who turned up to hear me and see the works on display. The works are taken down now but I’m hoping to have a full exhibition there for Melbourne’s Midsumma festival next February.

I’m off to Japan tomorrow for two months; to research new artists, visit artists I know, and of course to enjoy Japanese food and shopping. I’ll still be updating my blog and will be available if anyone has any requests. If you are in Japan during that time let me know and we can catch up.

Feature Inc. in cooperation with the Tom if Finland Foundation has just opened a group exhibition in New York City, running until the 31st of July. Gengoroh Tagame has joined the exhibition, one of over 30 artists involved. Gengoroh isn’t making it to the exhibition, but some of the works and artists who have been key inspirations for his work are in the show. So if you are in NYC then check it out. Details are on the exhibition website.

'Tom of Finland and then some' exhibition flyer

More than 50 new Go Hirano images have been added to the Vintage Barazoku gallery. They are all of well hung fit guys getting into it, so I’ll let you check out the gallery yourselves!

Big thanks to Nick Wurlod and the rest of the crew at JoyFM on Tuesday for asking me to come on the show and talk about Japanese gay art. You can check out the program blog to see a rundown of the show, they have podcasts there too.

Me with Nick Wurlod, Executive Producer from All That False Instruction

Joy FM 94.9 is a gay and lesbian radio station in Melbourne, Australia. No False Instruction is a show on Tuesday mornings, and I’ll be interviewed on the show tomorrow talking about queer art from Japan. So tune in tomorrow from 11:30 Melbourne time (GMT +10). You can check out there site and listen to the show online.

There are some new works available in the galleries – Art for Sale and Vintage Barazoku. Not so many new ones, but hopefully enough to tide you over for a short while. I’m off to Japan soon to meet with artists and source new works. I’ll be there through July and August, back in my home town and enjoying the Tokyo life!

Back in February DNA magazine (Australia’s premier gay magazine) published an article on Japanese gay art featuring myself. I’ve finally got around to scanning the article for those who don’t have DNA in their country. You can still order the issue online on the DNA website.