Heroes-Training Boys I, Kimura Ryoko

Artwork Overview

Kimura Ryoko, artist
born 1971
Heroes-Training Boys I, 2011
Where object was made: Japan
Material/technique: Japanese pigment; Japanese paper
Dimensions:
Object Height/Width (Height x Width): 207 x 350 cm
Object Height/Width (Height x Width): 81 1/2 x 137 13/16 in
Credit line: Museum purchase: Helen Foresman Spencer Art Acquisition Fund
Accession number: 2013.0156.a
Not on display

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Images

Label texts

This pair of finely painted nihonga or Japanese-style screens depicts a group of eight “training boys” by Tokyo-based artist Kimura Ryoko. In her vibrant paintings, Kimura creates a sensuous world occupied by good looking guys known in Japanese as ikemen. She explains: “I’m currently attracted to passive eroticism rather than blunt exposure...I’d like to try and depict those sexual male aspects that turn girls on, yet in a healthy-looking physical state.”

Inscription

I
俺はヒーロー  I am a hero
Ore wa hīrō
君だけの 君を守る I protect only you
Kimi dake no kimi o mamoru
抱きしめる Holding [you] tight
Dakishimeru

II
鍛えるよ 毎日 I train everyday
Kitaeru yo Mainichi
強くて そして かっこいい Strong and cool
Tsuyokute soshite kakkoī
君の漢(おとこ)になるために To become your man’s man (or man among men)
Kimi no Kan (otoko) ni naru tame ni

Exhibitions

Kris Ercums, curator
Vidhita Raina, curator
2023–2024