Sometimes the line between "kawaii" and grotesque is as thin as a single hair. The exotic hair creations of Shinji Konishi has people asking, are these cute or just plain outrageous?Konishi's "Animal Hair Exhibition," featuring about 30 wigs, hats and other headpieces, runs until Feb. 14 at the Lapnetship space in Tokyo's Harajuku district.
Konishi, who started out as a hair and makeup artist in 1990, has worked mainly for fashion magazines. His work has appeared in advertisements, CD jackets and music videos for musicians, movies and TV programs.
In the past five years, however, he has created a series of hairpieces in the shape of animals and fruit that perhaps qualify as art.
Konishi's hats that resemble realistic dogs, rabbits, giraffes, lions and elephants are made of human hair. They have appeared on posters and CD jackets, in addition to showings at museums and galleries.
At first glance, they look real. Are people wearing real animals on their heads? The pieces are in fact molded of polystyrene and covered with dyed human hair. The artist reportedly says he aims to gross people out, make them turn away in disgust. He seems to be succeeding.
While grotesque, a few are also playful. Lady Gaga, famed for her fashion crimes, wore Konishi's bat hair hat in her 2009 music video, "Bad Romance."
All over the world, people are copying the wild and kitschy hairstyles and colors found in manga and anime. Konishi's latest wig series recreates such hairdos in lightweight paper clay and polystyrene. Some replica hair hats are available for purchase at the venue, along with a photo collection of the artist's works.
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