Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on July 2010

Perhaps the most controversial artistic exploration of gay themes since Robert Mapplethorpe, Robert Waters’ exhibition “Man” arrives in Tokyo for a month-long stint. The Canadian artist’s installations and drawings explore the body and human nature via themes of sexuality, violence and mortality. The three-part show is comprised of Clean Up Your Act you Dirty Faggots, based on gay pornography from the ’70s; Man at Computer, which investigates our growing intimacy with technology through images of men alone at night in the glow of their computers; and the “live” installation Killing San Sebastian, featuring a life-size drawing of the Christian martyr that’s “completed” by being shot at with bows and arrows.

Mizuma Art Gallery
Robert Waters. Photography, installation. July 14-Aug 14, free. Sai Mariuta. Peace and Waves. Painting. July 14-Aug 14, free. 1-3-9, Kamimeguro, Meguro-ku. Tel: 03-3793-7931. Open Tue-Sat 11am-7pm, closed Sun-Mon. Nearest stn: Nakameguro. www.mizuma-art.co.jp