Issue 43 Makoto Aida The cover of this issue of Artkrush is a detail from Harakiri School Girls, a 2006 painting by Makoto Aida. It is currently on view at the Singapore Biennale, which runs through November 12. Aida received his MFA in 1991 from Tokyo National University and lives and works in Tokyo. He is represented by Mizuma Art Gallery in Tokyo and has had solo shows at London's IBID Projects and at Lisa Dent Gallery in San Francisco. His group shows include The American Effect: Global Perspectives on the United States, 1990-2003 at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the XXV Biennale de São Paulo. His work is in the collections of the Tokyo Museum of Art and the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art. Aida's videos, installations, paintings, and manga books treat terrorism and pedophilia as artistic fodder. Though Aida tackles his subjects with conscious irony, the results can still be offensive. One example is Imagine, a painting that puts the viewer in a pilot's seat headed straight for an abstract target — the World Trade Center. The video I-DE-A, from the same 2005 show at Lisa Dent, is a shot of Aida's naked back; while looking at pink Japanese characters spelling out "beautiful little girl," the artist pleasures himself for 50 minutes. Harakiri School Girls is representative of Aida's work on young females, many of which are amputees. He contorts young, stifled bodies as if they were delectable treats ready for consumption (Edible Artificial Girls, Mi-Mi Chan is the most obvious example). In other illustrations, the women have stubs for hands and legs and sport nothing except dog collars. The artist's work makes its viewers see society's cruel misogyny — it comes as no surprise that Aida was a frequent political activist in college. (LM) Makoto Aida Harakiri School Girls, 2006 Painting on canvas 59 x 78 3/4 in./ 150 x 200 cm Courtesy Singapore Biennale Photo: © National Arts Council, Singapore All Rights Reserved