"Vermilion Pleasure Night" creator Yoshimasa Ishibashi exhibits new video work in Kanagawa

by Chris MaGee

Not many of you out there will instantly twig when you hear the name Yoshimasa Ishibashi, but many of you will know his work. Ishibashi was the man behind the late-night TV Tokyo comedy show "Vermilion Pleasure Night". The show only aired for five months in 2000, but its popularity has grown thanks to YouTube where many of its skits, such as the mannequin family The Fuccons, the disturbing Midnight Cooking/ How to Eat a Girl and the X-rated One Point English Lesson, have become viral hits. Yoshimasa didn't get his start in comedy though. He got his start as a video artist and he's returning to his roots with a new exhibition taking place at Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art in Hamamachi Marugame City, Kagawa Prefecture. Titled "SickeTel: Ishibashi Yoshimasa and KyupiKyupi" the exhibition not only brings together videos from "Vermilion Pleasure Night" but it also includes a claymation workshop and two new video works by Ishibashi - "Black Rina" (above left) and "White Snake" (above right).

"SickeTel: Ishibashi Yoshimasa and KyupiKyupi" runs at MIMOCA from July 18th to November 3rd. For more details and more images from the exhibit click here and here.