A funny thing happened to Hajime Sorayama — the Japanese artist famous for his sexy humanoid robots. You may recall his work from the cover of our November 1980 issue or back cover of August 1981. You might also have seen his android pinups in Penthouse or Playboy over the years. For decades, Sorayama has been a hugely successful and unmistakable artist within the adult-ish sci-fi genre. His precise airbrush paintings fuse science fiction and old-school pinup eroticism — in other words, snooty art types could easily dismiss it as lowbrow or un-PC “niche” art. And now, over 40 years after he painted his first sexy robot in 1978, he’s been discovered by the high-fashion and art world.
(We should also mention that Sorayama was the initial designer of AIBO, the robot dog created by Sony in the late ’90s, and was duly recognized by the design community for his work on that project.)
Attack Of The 40-Foot Sexy Robot
Sorayama built a massive sexy robot for the Dior Pre-Fall 2019 men’s collection show, which took place in November 2018 (don’t ask us, we’re not fashion experts here). The sparkling she-bot stood 39 feet tall, and was created from sculpted styrofoam coated in layers of metallic paint. In all, she weighed nearly a ton, which is a lot of styrofoam and paint. Photos and video via Dezeen:
Enter The Dinosaur
Dior didn’t just use Sorayama for a one-time prop; the artist’s imagery became a motif of the men’s collection, although it wasn’t the sexy robot. Instead, Dior used a robotic Tyrannosaurus rex painting by Sorayama (garnished with cherry blossoms) which popped up on shoes, t-shirts and man-purses. (Some sexy robots and a sexy robot mermaid were used as well.) Here’s what that looks like (shots of the merch from HypeBeast):
T-Rex and the Space Park
The robot dinosaur has shown up again, this time in Bangkok. Sorayama has constructed a life-size robotic T. rex and installed it at Central Embassy, a huge shopping mall. This aluminum dinosaur stands over 12 feet tall and measures 36 feet from snout to tip of its tail, and is the central feature of something called “Sorayama Space Park.” Here are some shots of the beast from the Central Embassy Instagram feed:
What’s next for Hajime Sorayama? Who knows, but with decades of experience creating sexy robots, robot dinosaurs, and other glistening miscellanea, he’s poised to be the go-to designer for this brand of sleek futurism. We’re happy to say we knew him way back when:
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