Lot 200: NORITOSHI HIRAKAWA

(Japanese, b. 1960) PORTRAIT FOR PORTRAIT OF VANESSA BEECROFT - WITH THE MAN AS SUMO WRESTLER inscribed "Porträt für ein Porträt von Vanessa Beecroft" in pencil on verso editioned, signed and dated "5/5, [signature] 1999" in pencil on verso gelatin silver print 61/2 x 9 in. (16.5 x 22.9 cm) 1999 this print is number 5 from an edition of 5 from PORTRAIT FOR PORTRAIT OF VANESSA BEECROFT series PROVENANCE full edition donated by the artist to Kunsthalle St. Gallen, SWITZERLAND to benefit the institution Serge Ziegler Galerie, ZÜRICH Private Collection, MASSACHUSETTS LITERATURE Michelle Nicol, "Nine easy questions for Vanessa Beecroft," MATERIAL, Issue No. 1, ZURICH, 1999, pp. 76-79 (illustrated) This series was originally intended as a collaboration with Vanessa Beecroft, used to illustrate an interview with Beecroft in MATERIAL magazine. After Noritoshi Hirakawa carefully choreographed the staging and subject, the idea was simply to insert Beecroft into these situations and take the final photographs for the magazine. At the last minute, however, Beecroft had to back out of the photo session, so Hirakawa shot the images with substitute models. To Hirakawa's surprise, the editors loved the idea of representations of Beecroft and enthusiastically published the photographs alongside the short interview. The other images in the series are titled: PORTRAIT FOR PORTRAIT OF VANESSA BEECROFT - FOR THE MAN TO VOYEUR and PORTRAIT FOR PORTRAIT OF VANESSA BEECROFT - ON THE MAN AS PILLOW. Each of these prints was printed in an edition of five, all of which were donated to the Kunsthalle St. Gallen to sell for benefit.