Beyoncé has been called out by Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama, who claims that she copied his signature erotic robot designs for her record-breaking Renaissance tour.
Sorayama, 76, shared a post on Instagram on Monday 11 December where he said the Grammy-winner, 42, should have asked him “officially” so he could have collaborated with her, as he did with Canadian artist The Weeknd.
“Yo @beyonce… You should have asked me ‘officially’ so that I could make much better work for you as like my man @theweeknd,” he captioned the post, which compared her looks during the Renaissance tour to his art.
The Independent has contacted Beyoncé’s representatives for comment.
Among the pictures included in Sorayama’s message was one with Beyoncé’s face sporting a futuristic, chrome headpiece with pointed cylinders over her ears, while the final three show his own designs.
Sorayama began creating his eroticised illustrations of female humanoid robots around the early Eighties, with his work appearing in Penthouse magazine and later on Playboy TV.
Following his post, many of Beyoncé’s fans have leapt to her defence, pointing out that her Renaissance looks have been compared several times to the 1927 sci-fi film, Metropolis, while other elements appear to pay homage to French designer Thierry Mugler’s 1995 fall collection.
“Metropolis has been imitated by so many people,” one fan argued. “To have this image of her be picked apart when a headpiece like the one above has been used by so many people known and unknown to the masses is crazy. Well wishes.”
Another commented: “She’s wearing Thierry Mugler based off an archive Mugler look that referenced Metropolis. Were you this incensed when she wore a similar headpiece in 2007 at the BET awards?”
“Metropolis, Mugler, Gaultier, and more have all done this. You don’t own the android aesthetic,” one remarked.
An almost 12-metre high robot sculpture by Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama stands in the center of the catwalk of the Dior Men Pre-Fall 2019 collection by British fashion designer Kim Jones in Tokyo— (EPA)
Others questioned why Sorayama was only now calling out the “Cuff It” singer when her tour and its accompanying visuals were first unveiled in May this year.
“I understand you feel like your art has been imitated and copied by her but this visual has been out for months… so to now have outrage about it seems like a reach for something or a grab at something,” one person commented.
However, others have been defending Sorayama and pointed out that his own work has been hugely influential on pop culture.
“Yes, Metropolis is source inspo, but Hajime Sorayama has quite literally been a master and icon in the art and k!nk world for time, and Beyonce is 10000 per cent referencing it,” one person wrote. “Y’all need to get out of the beehive and touch grass.”
Beyoncé recently released her new concert film, Renaissance, A Film by Beyoncé, which she debuted at two glittering premieres in Los Angeles and London.
In a five-star review, The Independent praised the “Spielberg-style production” of the show and how the film demonstrates Beyoncé’s perfectionist work ethic.
“Not since Prince has a musician wielded such control over their live show,” the review said. “Whether she’s exhibiting vocal gymnastics on ‘Dangerously in Love’ or rising into the air on a silver horse while wearing a diamond-encrusted harness (Lady Godiva meets Studio 54), everything appears flawless.”
