Filed under: Bome Figures

Bome figure exhibition at Parco Factory in Shibuya

06.10.2008 by Patrick W. Galbraith

The man known only as “Bome,” 47, is the most famous figure sculptor in Japan, well known for his meticulous, even otaku depictions of bishojo, beautiful anime and videogame girls. But critics at their best see talent for what it is, and this otaku is now an internationally recognized artist at the fore of Japan’s $27.5 million figure industry. In honor of Bome’s 10 years in the contemporary art scene, Parco Factory in Shibuya will display an unprecedented 80 Bome bishojo pieces spanning the length of his career.

Bome appeared in the early ‘80s as one of the first amateur producers of “garage kits,” or resin pieces of a figure roughly molded and left for the buyer to put together, finish and paint. The high quality standards and creativity of these kits, mostly inspired by the “hobby” anime that dominated this the original animation video (OVA) era, formed the basis of the commercial figure market. Rising up through the ranks of amateur creators at Wonder Festival, Bome debuted professionally in 1986 with Kaiyodo, known for their innovative Choco Egg and ultra-real Japanese Animal Collection. At this point, however, the company is more known for the Mon-sieur Bome Collection imprint for bishojo figures than realistic dioramas of history and nature.

Collectors praise Bome for his accurate paintwork, fine detail and his ability to capture and represent characters in natural poses. He combines the sensual forms of popular media images with detailed, cute faces. What elevated Bome to “god status,” however, was his efforts to overcome the “three-dimensional contradiction,” or the fact that physically deformed bishojo as they appear in two-dimensional representations cannot possibility (or anatomically) exist in the real world. Bome toiled to make incredibly accurate molds and detailed character sculpts that approach precisely the imaginary form. Because of this, fans enjoy photographing his works, in turn prompting Kaiyodo to in 1995 release the first ever photo collection for a single figure sculptor, “BOME・EX.”

Bome has long been an inspiration to his more photogenic contemporary, Murakami Takashi, and collaborated with that giant of the Japanese art scene on the life-size bishojo figure “Project Ko2” in 1995. The humble model maker was then recognized as an artist and given his first exhibition at Feature Ink in New York in 1998. This set the stage for Murakami’s “Ero Pop Tokyo” in Los Angles that same year and the infamous “SuperFlat” installations in Tokyo and Los Angles in 2000 and 2001 – all three featuring Bome. Bome then stood alongside Murakami at “Popular Art” (un art populaire) held by the Cartier Contemporary Art Foundation in Paris in 2001, where the curator deemed Bome the “king of otaku.” As if this needed any further evidencing, the enigmatic genius decided in 2002 to craft the world’s largest solo-sculpted bishojo, a one-meter “Love Hina” character.

Bome still actively contributes garage kits to the biannual Wonder Festival, Japan’s largest outlet for unlicensed anime figure sales, but most of his works are limited to the day of the event and sell out immediately. His works are 1/4 scale (by now called “Bome scale”), about 50 centimeters, towering over standard 20-centimeter figures, and the delicate parts make the bulky pieces hard to move. To see a substantial collection of his works usually requires a day trip on the shinkansen bullet train trip to the Kaiyodo Figure Museum in Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture. The Parco show is a blessing for longtime fans looking for a retrospective and dose of nostalgia, and for those interested in seeing what all the fuss is about.

The venue is everything one would expect: a grand entrance fit for an artist, flowers from Murakami and Kai Kai Kiki and a 1:1 scale “Oni-Musume I.” The interior is a single concrete room with bare floors and fashionably exposed overhead ventilation. It feels like an underground gallery – until the scene inside comes into view. Ambient background noise mixes with snippets of dialogue and cheesy guitar music from the looped Bome interview DVD, all of which clashes marvelously with the soft rap playing in the Parco retail shops outside. The exhibit itself begins with 24 varieties of Bome figures for sale, including rare gems such as the San Diego-exclusive metallic “Bunny Girl.” The centerpiece is a $290 set including a 1:4 scale, 288 x 400 cm “Oni-Musume Special” complete with the Bome interview DVD and “The Complete Works of Bome” artbook. It comes in a signed box.

Moving away from the sales rack to the proper displays, there is an island with all six color variations of the one-meter “Love Hina” figure. Beyond are completed examples of some of Bome’s best garage kits from 1983 to now, including Lum from “Urusei Yatsura” (1983), Deunan from “Appleseed” (1983), Takaya Noriko from “Gunbusters” (1991), Minki Momo from “Magical Princess Minky Momo” (1992), Nuku Nuku from “All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku” (1994), Hoshino Ruri from “Martian Successor Nadesico” (TV) (1994), Skuld from “Oh, My Goddess!” (1996), Lumiere and Eclair from “Kiddy Grade” (2004, 2005), KOS-MOS from “Xenosaga” (2005), Elis from “Asobi ni iku yo” (2006), Saber from “Fate/stay night” (2006), Hyuga Natsumi from “Sgt. Frog” (2006) and Kosaka Tamaki from “To Heart X-Rated” (2008). Sadly, classics such as “Magic User’s Club” are not on hand. The utter transformation of his tiny, rough works from the 80s to his supple current offering is astounding. One has to see it to believe it. Throughout, however, the trademark faces, poses and expressions retain the unique Bome touch. Some real standouts are a standing Misty May (1992), which is much more personable than the production toy, a huge, vivid Yomiko Readman (2006) and a cosplaying Haruhi (2007) captured in the moment she salutes and the sleeve of her oversized gakuran jacket flies up. It was released as a gatchapon, but it didn’t do the original garage kit justice.

The center table of the exhibition is a demonstration of the seven steps in Bome’s model making. It begins with a book and manga so the original character can be seen, then moves to rough body sculpting, head and clothes, smoothing with paper, putty and paint, molding in silicon gum, casting resin and finally painting. The final completed figure is the vision of the one seen in step one, like she stepped off the page and into the display case! This is a good point to stop and view one of the many monitors displaying the looped Bome interview DVD, where he explains his philosophy and inspiration. There are some revelations in there, for example he does no want to make art or choose his own subjects, but rather be inspired to bring other’s fantasy to life, and his rolemodel is Michelangelo. However, the biggest pleasure is to see the artisan at work, toiling away in his apron in a tiny home cluttered with materials, books and waste. To think that such wonderful figures could come from such chaos…

Finally, there is a wall of pictures taken from his art exhibitions around the world. (It is funny enough that an art and fashion department store such as Parco is plastered with posters of Bome bishojo.) Right next to this is a case devoted to Bome’s collaborations with Murakami, especially “Project Ko2.” There are 12 concept sketches of the blond maid Miss Ko2 full of personality; it is like she is an anime character with an inclusive story. It is from these that Bome crafted the infamous 1:1 work that sold for $567,000 at Christie’s in 2003. There are art books devoted to her, the miniature toys and two color variations of the completed garage kit. Surprisingly, the rarely seen “Nurse Ko2”completed garage kit is also on display, and she looks fantastic. The exhibition end with a white wall upon which are hung the 18 packaged figures in the Mon-sieur Bome Collection. This leaves the viewer seriously wondering the difference between these “figures” and the art sculptures displayed by Murakami. The mantra among defensive enthusiasts is, “At least figures are three-dimensional,” and now is the time to see the extraordinary works of the man who put those words in proper perspective.

Name: ボーメ～アーティストデビュー10周年記念展～ Bome: The 10th Anniversary exhibition Debut in the Contemporary Art scene
Venue: Parco Factory, Shibuya Parco, 1/6F
Time: 10/3/2008 to 10/20/2008, 10:00am - 9:00pm
Charge: 300 yen