Roe Ethridge and Nobuyoshi Araki’s Subversive Still Lifes Hit New York

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Summary

  • A new show at Anton Kern Gallery in New York pairs work by photographers Roe Ethridge and Nobuyoshi Araki
  • On view through July 2, the exhibition brings forth archival works by Araki, alongside new and “revisted” works by Ethridge

American artist Roe Ethridge is presenting a new exhibition at New York’s Anton Kern Gallery, featuring work from the archive of renowned Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki. Both artists – Araki, known for his deeply personal photography, and Ethridge, a celebrated pop artist – create visually striking images through carefully arranged compositions and a painterly use of photography. This marks the first time their work has been shown together, highlighting their shared talent for building tension through imagery.

The exhibition, personally selected and arranged by Ethridge, features a collection of still lifes, nudes, and floral arrangements that highlight the unique styles of the artists involved. Ethridge is also showing two new prints from his early 1990s Floral Arrangements series, inspired by Araki’s vibrant Painted Flowers (2004). These works capture a sense of everyday beauty and bring to mind memories of his mother’s calendars.

The film combines new footage with excerpts from Nobuyoshi Araki’s archives, including Flower Cemetery and Tokyo Nude. It blends staged intimate scenes with raw glimpses of Tokyo’s streets, shifting between public and private spaces. The delicate beauty of flowers is often contrasted with unsettling plastic figures that appear throughout the work.

Ethridge’s work echoes the spontaneous feel of Hiroshi Sugimoto’s photos, like his quick iPhone shot of Mount Fuji from a plane and his beautiful image of a rainbow after a rain shower. Both capture a raw, immediate style of photography similar to Sugimoto’s, but updated with modern techniques and a broader appeal.

I’m so excited to share that the exhibit featuring Nobuyoshi Araki and Roe Ethridge is currently up at Anton Kern Gallery! You can see it at their main gallery and in the window at 91 Walker Street until July 2nd. Definitely worth checking out if you’re in the area.

Anton Kern Gallery
16 East 55th Street,
New York, NY 10022

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2026-05-14 01:56