There is a giant mass of a figure towering in the center of the room, all wrapped up in a surreal green and white outfit from the top of the head to the bottom of the stiletto heels, leaving only a heavily larded face to shine out in a playfully menacing manner. There is a half-naked, gender-bending individual prancing around with an electric "I Love Anal" sign flashing atop his fluorescent pink wig. Meanwhile, standing at the doorway in a morning coat and striped trousers, wearing a sash with the title of his exhibition draped across his chest, is the ringleader of this quasi-Parisian art circus: Masayuki Yoshinaga.
There is a sly smile playing on Yoshinaga's lips, and for good reason: Whereas many of today's new Japanese artists are self-effacingly subdued, here is a man who knows how to make a big splash. As his opening party suggests, Yoshinaga, at a youngish 35 years of age, is now well on his way to succeeding lubricious little Nobuyoshi Araki as Japan's best-known bad boy photographer. Like Araki, he will achieve this by flirting with taboos.
In "Catalogue 35," now showing at the Parco Gallery in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward, Yoshinaga displays a welcome combination of technical ability, documentary objectivity and compositional savvy to bring the viewer into the world of Japan's various counterculture. The exhibition marks the release of the artist's book "No Excuses," and includes some 70 black-and-white and color prints featured in the 264-page publication.