Nobuyoshi Araki, icon and cult-like figure in Japanese photography, is in Paris for only the second time in 25 years, and his fans are surrounding him in mobs of adoration. He squiggled playful colorful pornographic doodles in every book he signed at the Taschen store, cracked jokes in Japanese, and agreeably posed for snapshots, mostly with his middle finger extended in greeting. In addition to promoting "Tokyo Lucky Hole", recently re-released by Taschen, the big attraction is a cinematic spectacle of images and music at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris from 8 October to 23 October 2005.

Check back in a few days for the full report, with interview quotes and images.

In the meantime, I thought you might enjoy this "over-the-top" excerpt from the press release (somehow very appropriate to the extravagance of Araki):

"ARAKINEMA-Paris is a unique project that has been especially created for the Palais de Tokyo. The piece is a firework of images. Araki makes his own brand of cinema – his Arakinema – by incorporating music and movement into his work in photography. The piece as a whole moves to a rhythm that displays a range of accelerations and culminates in an apotheosis of scathing and sensually raw emotions.

"Projected directly on screen, the images of Arakinema play with a feeling that is both esthetic and dizzying, a sentiment that combines the intimate and the provocative. The colors are bright, the attraction strong, and the feeling of unease appealing: Arakinema sows confusion in the inner reaches of beauty.

"This project runs concurrently with an important show on the artist at the Barbican Arts Centre in London, which is on display from 6 October 2005 to 22 January 2006."