Sadao Hasegawa

Garth Greenan Gallery is pleased to present The Monument of Lips: Sadao Hasegawa, 1974–1993. The show is Hasegawa’s first solo exhibition in the United States, and among the first presentations of the artist’s work outside of Japan.

A self-taught artist, Hasegawa (1945–99) was the leading Japanese erotic artist of his generation, making drawings and paintings for publication in the magazines that circulated and sustained the Tokyo queer scenes of the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s. His masterfully rendered, richly adorned tableaux incorporate imagery from a wide range of cultural and historical sources—from Aubrey Beardsley to Go Mishima, Greek Koroi to Hindu deities, Japanese folklore to American cartoons. “Even when composition is sparse,” writes Kelly in the exhibition’s accompanying catalogue, “there is a palpable density of association—a profusion of symbolism, history, and imagination.”

The Monument of Lips provides an overview of Hasegawa’s art, featuring a carefully selected group of drawings and paintings—many of which originally appeared in Tokyo-based magazines such as Barazoko, Samson, and Sabu. In these works, Hasegawa’s exquisite draftsmanship, virtuosic sense of color, and unfettered visual imagination yield scenes of Technicolor skies, lush landscapes, and mystical, erotic release. Combining technical finesse and a wide-ranging creative vision, Hasegawa’s work mounts an innate challenge to categories of fine art, illustration, and erotica. In so doing, he suggests new horizons—and possibilities—for beauty and desire, where fantasy is not latent but a powerful aesthetic force.

A fully illustrated catalogue, with essays by Peter Kelly, Joseph Akel, and Ignacio Adriasola, accompanies the exhibition.

Garth Greenan Gallery is pleased to represent the Estate of Sadao Hasegawa.