Hajime Sorayama – Gynoids

Hajime Sorayama (空山基, Sorayama Hajime, born February 22, 1947) is a Japanese

Hajime Sorayama was born in 1947 in Imabari, Ehime prefecture, Japan.^[1] He received his basic education at Imabari Kita High School. In 1965 he was admitted to the Shikoku Gakuin University,^[2] where he began to study Greek and English literature.^[3] In 1967, after the publication of his first work, Pink Journal, he transferred to Tokyo's Chuo Art School where he began to study art. illustrator, known for his precisely detailed, erotic airbrush portrayals of women and feminine robots.

Sorayama graduated in 1968 at the age of 21, and gained an appointment in an advertising agency. He became a freelance illustrator in 1972.^[4] In 1978 he drew his first robot. He resides in Tokyo.^[5]

Sorayama's work Sexy Robot, published by Genko-sha in 1983,^[6] made his organic robotic forms famous around the world. For the work, he used ideas from pin-up art, which in the book then appear as chrome-plated gynoids in suggestive poses. His next book, Pin-up (Graphic-sha, 1984), continue in the same line. A number of his other works similarly revolve around figures in suggestive poses, including highly realistic depictions in latex and leather.

In 1985 Sorayama published the video Illustration Video,^[7] his first work apart from the books of illustrations. This includes works in the movies "Brain Dead" (1992), "Time Cop" (1994) and "Space Trucker" (1995), design of trading cards, limited edition prints, CD Roms, art exhibitions and the initial industrial design for Sony's AIBO robotic pet.^[8]

From 1985 to 2010 has been a very busy period for Sorayama who is releasing his new book Master Works in late spring of 2010. There were some important issues of cloudy title and copyright matters that may be understood from reading news reports, PACER court records and this fully referenced article [http://knol.google.com/k/art-sorayama-v-tamara-bane-gallery-and-robert-bane# ] which details the art fraud case of Sorayama V. Tamara Bane Gallery and Robert S. Bane. For more specific information, one may contact the official [website http://www.sorayama.net]

Found Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hajime_Sorayama

A chromed robotic female suggestively poses for the cover of “Heavy Metal” the infamous American/French Sci-Fi Magazine. Art from the idiosyncratic airbrush of Hajime Sorayama – dated Novemeber 1980.

Heavy Metal was created by American Publisher Leonard Mogel, who upon a trip to Paris had come across “Metal Hurlant”(Howling Metal) a French science-fantasy magazine that had debuted in 1974 and featured contribution’s from illutrators such as Jean Giraud AKA Moebius, Phillippe Druillet, Philippe Caza and Italian Erotica specialist Milo Manara. Inspired, Mogel set about licensing and translating this material for an American version and thus in April 1977 Heavy Metal was born, a franchise that’s spawned two feature length animated Movies and still runs to this day – check the official site: http://www.metaltv.com/ (warning Saucy over 18 type content)

Read more about Heavy Metal at Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Metal_(magazine)

Image Sourced via Flickr User jl.incrowd – check his excellent selection of scanned Heavy Metal Artwork: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jl-incrowd/sets/72157604843541927/

So back to the subject of Hajime Sorayama and all thing’s bright, shiny and VERY 80’s – Hafidz from http://puteraaladin.blogspot.com/ has kindly contacted me to reccomend these lovingly crafted techinicolor Sorayama tribute Wallpaper’s:

http://www.behance.net/Gallery/Hajime-Sorayama-Tribute/161565

Digital Art by: sakke soini… Cheers!

One final note I’d like to add – I think perhaps the most enduring element of Heavy Metal is the collapsing chrome Logo-type – Perfection!

A tentatively posed model is airbrushed into another part of the “Gynoid” Series, by Hajime Sorayama. The Gynoids are very much the same concept harvested by H.R.Giger with his BioMechanoids; that is to say they’re both a fusion of machine and the female form, but the similarity pretty much stops there.

Sorayama’s work is sweetness and light, he uses the body hugging chrome prosthetic to re-enforce softcore/pin-up titillation, machine enhanced but very much human. Giger’s approach is the reverse, sinister machine like humanoids – alien (literally) – the example shown is one his earlier works, a pre-airbrush piece from around 1970.

Another example of a “Gynoid” by Hajime Sorayama, super sexy airbushing pretty much unsurpassed IMHO – I really like the subtle glows and Sheen

The term “Gynoids” was created by the female British SF writer, Gwyneth Jones, and developed by another British writer, Richard Calder. The word is a combination of “droid” (greek “in the image of”) and “gyn” (greek “woman”). See more on Sorayama here http://hajimesorayama.com/

Hajime Sorayama – Gynoid.

Part of Sorayama’s “Gynoid” series of airbrush Illustrations, which involve the female form combined with chromed machinery, mainly in suggestive poses, that tend to veer to wards the explicit – suffice to say Sorayama’s has often been featured in Penthouse Magazine. Read more about Sorayama at Wiki here.

Thanks to Kiel Bryant again for the scan of the original image.

Found Here: http://www.sci-fi-o-rama.com/category/artist/hajime-sorayama/