Untitled

Key Hiraga's electrifying eroticism undoubtedly transpires in these three works, all representative of a specific pictorial language of the artist's career. Sexual tension and explorations of its visual representation revolving around the human figure has been Hiraga's main focus throughout his work, which has become increasingly figurative and intricately detailed to reinforce its surrealist aspect. Untitled (Lot 180) was painted shortly after Hiraga's stay in Paris. Here, the painting maintains the characteristics of his earlier works, with the use of black lines on a white back ground to delineate a context, while bright yellow, red, pink and blue punctuate specific parts of the male and female figures to catch the viewer's attention on gender identification but also the suggestion of elements of attraction. Evolving to even more provocative, yet absurd, depictions of sexuality, Untitled (Lot 179) provides a colourful display of deconstructed, superimposed, and intertwined extravagant body parts used as symbols of eroticism. Its congested composition is a powerful illustration of the artist's technical and imaginative abilities to render the complexities of human natural desire. As Hiraga's paintings gain in realism, erotic tension is exacerbated with the juxtaposition of overly sexualised figures placed in specific pragmatic three-dimensional context. Such is the case in Tea Ceremony in the Yesterday Hermitage-with Mr Semimaru (Lot 181), where the scene of a couple seemingly engaging in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony is entirely disrupted by the exaggerated female organs of the half-dressed woman in contrast with the man's fully attired and straight seated position. Key Hiraga's body of work was recognised very early on by art institutions, and is rightfully included in important collections throughout Japan and internationally, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Museum of Art in Osaka, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.