HIDEKI TOKUSHIGE
After I graduated from Nippon Photography Institute in 1997, I went back to my hometown in Kagoshima. I became an apprentice to a beekeeper and looked after bees. I have always loved animals, so naturally, I thought I would pursue my career as a beekeeper until one day.
I became fascinated with bones. In 2004, I found a raccoon dog lying on the road. It must have been in an accident. I took it home to treat it, but it was too late. The raccoon dog was no longer breathing.
What should I do with it? Eventually, I came up with the idea of taking its the bones. I had read a book called “The School of Bones” the junior high school teacher had written and had always wanted to try it myself. However, when it came to the actual dissecting, my hands wouldn’t move out of fright. “It may just have passed out and could still be alive”. The thought crossed my mind and I couldn’t bring myself to use the scalpel on it. I was shocked to find out that I couldn’t tell the difference between life and death. After 3 hours of hesitation, I finally gathered my courage and began to dissect. My hands trembled and couldn’t proceed as I planned. By the time I took out all its bones, I was utterly exhausted. The bones of the racoon dog seemed to say to me “You know nothing about life or death”.
The idea of making flowers with bones came to me, after I had decided to leave for Tokyo to start my new career as a photographer. One evening in 2008, I was watching outside from a second-floor window of a cafe do on a crossroad in Ginza. As it started to rain, I saw colorful umbrellas opening. They reminded me of lotus flowers blooming upon the surface of the water. That was the moment I was inspired with the idea of “creating flowers with bones and photographing them”.
In order to realize it, I made a living by driving a forklift, and continued to create it for 4 years without showing to anyone. In 2012, I exhibited it for the first time at the exhibition - YOUNG ARTISTS JAPAN Vol.4 and received the Grand Prix. My artist career began from then. More recently, exhibitions overseas have increased, and in the spring of 2018 I had a solo exhibition at the gallery in New York.
| 1974 |
Born in Kagoshima, Japan |
| 1997 |
Graduated from Nippon Photography Institute, Department of documentary photography, Tokyo |
| 2004 |
Return to pick up the raccoon was dead on the road, take bones the first time |
| 2008 |
Works of "HONEBANA (Bone Flower)" was begun |
| Currently lives and works in Tokyo, Japan |
| ■SOLO EXHIBITIONS |
| 2018 |
HONEBANA, GALLERY KOGURE NEW YORK, NY, USA, March 14 - April 21 |
|
HONEBANA (Photo exhibition), GALLERY KOGURE NEW YORK, NY, USA, January 12 - February 3 |
| 2015 |
NO-BANA (Brain Flower), LOWER AKIHABARA. , Tokyo, May 30 - June 13 |
| 2013 |
HONEBANA (Bone Flower) - Queen of the night -, LOWER AKIHABARA. , Tokyo, April 5-20 |
| ■GROUP EXHIBITIONS |
| 2017 |
spiral take art collection, Spiral Garden, Tokyo, December 15-25 |
|
YUKI-SIS presents The Fools ≒ Great Artists, Spiral Garden, Tokyo, August 18-27 |
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The Fools -Group exhibition by various artists, Gallery YUKI-SIS, Tokyo, March 4-18 |
| 2016 |
UFO has arrived at YUKI-SIS, Gallery YUKI-SIS, Tokyo, March 12-26 |
| 2015 |
Young people who open up the era, Takamatsu Mitsukoshi Art Gallery, Kagawa JP, June 30-July 06 |
|
Yayoi Kusama and New Age Artists, Hiroshima Mitsukoshi Gallery, Hiroshima JP, June 16-22 |
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Yayoi Kusama and New Age Artists, Niigata Mitsukoshi Art Gallery, Niigata JP, June 9-15 |
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Animals revived in Art, Istean Shinjuku Art Gallery, Tokyo, May 11-17 |
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Art exhibition with bones, Istean Shinjuku Art Gallery, Tokyo, April 15-21 |
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LOST ANIMALS II - The Group Show, Gallery Art Composition, Tokyo, January 16-February 14 |
| 2014 |
The Fools ⇔ The Great Artists, Gallery YUKI-SIS, Tokyo, November 8-22 |
| 2013 |
ReSTART, Gallery YUKI-SIS, Tokyo, October 12-26 |
|
Esperanto, Bunkamura Box Gallery, Tokyo, July 13-22 |
|
CABINET DA-END 03, Galerie Da-End, Paris, France, May 21-July 20 |
| 2012 |
Magnetic Field Resonance, Gallery YUKI-SIS, Tokyo, September 22-October 13 |
|
Melting Point, Gallery YUKI-SIS, Tokyo, June 16-30 |
| 2011 |
YOUNG ARTISTS JAPAN Vol.4, LAFORET Museum Roppongi, Tokyo, September 30-October 2 |
| ■ART FAIRS |
| 2018 |
Art Market San Francisco, San Francisco, USA, April 26-29 |
| 2015 |
FINE ART ASIA, Hong Kong, October 3-7 |
|
ART FAIR ASIA FUKUOKA 2015, Fukuoka JP, September 4-6 |
| 2013 |
OFF ART FAIR 2013, Brussels, Belgium, April 19-22 |
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Affordable art fair NYC, NY, USA, April 3-7 |
| 2012 |
ULTRA005 - Emerging director's art fair, Spiral Garden, Tokyo, October 27-30 |
| 2011 |
PhotoTaipei 2011, Taipei, Taiwan, December 15-18 |
| ■MEDIA |
| 2018 |
Japanese translation version : Anatomy Rocks, Rodolphe Lachat, Graphic Company, JP, December 10 |
|
Nikkei Shimbun newspaper, JP, July 25 |
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ACS Magazine May/June 2018 issue, Renee LaVerne Rose, US, May 1 |
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Shukan NY Seikatsu Shimbun newspaper, US, March 27 |
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TRIBECA ART : SCULPTED FROM HUMAN REMAINS (US) |
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TRIBECA ART : Flowers Made from Animal Bones (US) |
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Marina Honda, a master's thesis, Portrait of history -A Hideki Tokushige's viewpoint in Honebana-, JP, January 1 |
2016 |
Anatomy Rocks: Flesh and bones in contemporary art, Rodolphe Lachat, Cernunnos, US, October 18 |
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MERRY -NOnsenSe MARkeT FINAL- LIVE DVD Artwork, JP, June 22 |
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ART is AHO！#14 / TV Show, Fuji Television, JP, February 26 |
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Honda Marina, a thesis, Image of death in Hideki Tokushige's Honebana, JP, February 2 |
| 2014 |
MERRY -NOnsenSe MARkeT-, Album Cover Artwork, JP, December 24 |
| 2013 |
Wired.co.uk (UK) |
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Daily Mail Online (UK) |
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The Huffington Post (US) |
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ART is AHO！#4 / TV Show, Fuji Television, JP, March 1 |
| 2012 |
SNAPPP Photo magazine, August Issue, Taiwan |
