Posts tagged Japan
Takashi Murakami
Mr. Big Mushroom
2011
(@ Gagosian, London)
Monsters from the Kaibutsi Ehon (1881): “Futsukeshibaba (a.k.a. Hikeshibaba) - Mysterious old woman in white who extinguishes lanterns” (pinktentacle.com)
Hakuin Ekaku (1685-1768) - Hotei Watching Mice Sumo
“Hotei (in Chinese, Budai, literally ‘cloth bag’), a portly monk who shoulders a large sack on a pole, made his first appearance in a tenth-century Chinese text and soon became a favored subject for Zen art … This painting of Hotei watching mice engaged in sumo wrestling is another example of Hakuin’s idiosyncratic vision of the wandering monk. Hakuin’s inscription is nestled at the top right: ‘This is where mice do sumo.’”
- From The Sound of One Hand: Paintings and Calligraphy by Zen Master Hakuin @ the New Orleans Museum of Art
BECOMING-BIRD: “In early 19th-century Japan, it became fashionable for the culturally sophisticated theatergoing population of Edo to entertain themselves at parties by imitating the voices and gestures of famous actors. As this fad spread, people began to expand their repertoires by mimicking animals, and as animal poses became all the rage at parties, writers and artists collaborated to produce illustrated books containing model examples of these poses. One such document written by poet Santo Kyoden in 1809 included copies of these Utagawa Toyokuni ukiyo-e prints of men imitating birds.” (toxicocultura.com, via C-MONSTER)
Yukio Mishima, “Confessions of a Mask” (1985 edition), via
Adolfo Farsari – The Man Who Shot Old Japan (quazen.com)
