Masayuki Yoshinaga, Goth-Loli (Gothic Lolita) 2006, digital photograph, inkjet print Courtesy of the artist

While the exhibition organizers do not claim that the six participating international artists are themselves members of this subculture, the show seems to suggest that the works exist as part of a larger cultural phenomenon -- that a Gothic attitude has, at the very least, in some way informed the practice of contemporary artists working throughout the world. The designation "Gothic" has had multiple meanings over the centuries, but the present exhibition is rooted in a present-day Japanese Gothic, taking the form of costumed performance beyond the stage with Japanese Goths, primarily though not exclusively youths, walking the streets wearing elaborate clothing which could be described as Edward Scissorhands-chic. Black, chains, body-piercing, heavy makeup, teased and colored hair, as well as a focus on childlike attributes (in Japan "Lolita" is typically appended to "Gothic," forming "Gothic-Lolita") are the visual signifiers of an affirmation of interest in such issues as mortality, suffering and ultimately, transformation and liberation through transgression.

These themes are addressed in a direct manner in the large-scale color photographs and installation work of Japanese photographer Masayuki Yoshinaga. Having gained notoriety for previous photographic series focusing on Japanese subcultures, Yoshinaga here turns his camera on Japanese Goths, fetishizing the fetishists yet providing a context within the exhibition for a general audience perhaps unfamiliar with the Goths amongst them.

	Ricky Swallow, Younger Than Yesterday 2006, limewood Collection of Ms.Tiqui Atencio Demirdjian

The sculptures and works on paper by Australian-born, Los Angeles-based artist Ricky Swallow present a less specific manifestation of anxiety; Swallow's elaborate wood carvings may function as contemporary vanitas, sculptures whose formal delicacy relates to their content in such a manner as to suggest human folly as well as an assertion of dignity despite and perhaps in light of an inevitably dark mortal fate. This dignity, however, is called into question by the sculptures in bronze also presented by Swallow. A "dignified" product of human ingenuity -- an audio-cassette player -- is rendered timeless through its presentation, though in the present (digital) context the object is already obsolete: a piece of junk represented as such despite the artist's use of a timeless material.

Equally ambiguous is the installation work of artist duo IngridMwangiRobertHutter, whose multi-media piece "Performance of Doubt," though heavy in symbolism, fails to provide an obvious final interpretation. The sculptures, drawings and mixed-media works by Mexican artist Dr. Lakra (many created during the artist's recent residency in Japan sponsored by the Yokohama Museum) focus on the exhibition's core themes, yet add a self-reflexive element; what is the result of a cross-cultural Gothic dialogue? What is the result of the institutionalization of an inherently anti-institutional practice? The answer, perhaps, lies in the distinct and contemporary Gothic display of anxiety present in Dr. Lakra's intriguing works.

A similar sense of anxiety is present in the film work of Japanese artist Tabaimo, who presents an immersive film installation dealing with the artist's body (specifically a condition of the hands), as well as in the work of Pyuupiru, whose photos and striking sculpture close the exhibition. Photographic images of bodily and gender confusion and transformation lead to a bride-like figure whose single bloody finger hints at the pain underlying any beginning.

		Tabaimo, Ginyo-ru (Guignoller) (installation view) 2005, video installation Courtesy of the artist and Gallery Koyanagi Photo: Ufer! Art Documentary
		Dr. Lakra, Untitled (Muscidae and Tea) 2007, ink on vintage colored postcard Courtesy of the artist and Kurimanzutto, Mexico City