Exhibition/event has ended.
Anno Moyoco + Kitagawa Utamaro “The Ukiyoe Courtesan”
Ai Kowada Gallery
Finished
SHARE
Artists
Moyoco Anno, Utamaro Kitagawa
Back in the eighteenth century, Utamaro Kitagawa, the legendary ukiyoe artist vividly depicted the idealized images of the beautiful courtesans who in reality were suffering a tough life in Yoshiwara: Edo’s expensive and high-class red light district authorized by the Tokugawa shogunate. The artist served the mass’s fantasy for Yoshiwara and its inhabitants with his inexpensive small format prints that were available for the common people of that time at very cheap prices which functioned like movie stars’ publicity shots of today.
On the other hand, Moyoco Anno, the charismatic contemporary Japanese story ‘manga’ artist, has chosen as her protagonists, the prostitutes from different eras and parts of the world in her two blockbuster manga series: “Sakuran” and “Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen”.
This exhibition presents Anno’s woodblock print portraits of her heroines from the aforementioned two mangas created in the method of authentic ukiyoe production using printing blocks made of cherry tree wood. The production was done with the help of an artisan who specializes in making accurate reproductions of the works by famous ukiyoe artists such as Hokusai, Utamaro, Hiroshige and Sharaku, as well as serving as a master printer for the contemporary painters of international recognition like Yayoi Kusama. The original prints by Anno will be shown alongside the Utamaro prints skilfully reproduced by the master printer. Thus, with about ten works made by the top creators of the mass art from the two separate eras, the show aims to provide a unique chance for the viewers to contemplate the ideals of the feminine beauty in Japanese popular culture from the past and the present.
Recently, Anno’s art was recognized as having artistic value by Mika Ninagawa, the well-known contemporary artist-photographer by making ‘Sakuran’ into an film in 2007,the key for such acclaim seems to be Anno’s unique treatment of the subject of sex work that relates the situation of the women in the business to that of other young women striving to survive in the contemporary society, whom Anno has so well portrayed in many of her other stories.
On the other hand, Moyoco Anno, the charismatic contemporary Japanese story ‘manga’ artist, has chosen as her protagonists, the prostitutes from different eras and parts of the world in her two blockbuster manga series: “Sakuran” and “Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen”.
This exhibition presents Anno’s woodblock print portraits of her heroines from the aforementioned two mangas created in the method of authentic ukiyoe production using printing blocks made of cherry tree wood. The production was done with the help of an artisan who specializes in making accurate reproductions of the works by famous ukiyoe artists such as Hokusai, Utamaro, Hiroshige and Sharaku, as well as serving as a master printer for the contemporary painters of international recognition like Yayoi Kusama. The original prints by Anno will be shown alongside the Utamaro prints skilfully reproduced by the master printer. Thus, with about ten works made by the top creators of the mass art from the two separate eras, the show aims to provide a unique chance for the viewers to contemplate the ideals of the feminine beauty in Japanese popular culture from the past and the present.
Recently, Anno’s art was recognized as having artistic value by Mika Ninagawa, the well-known contemporary artist-photographer by making ‘Sakuran’ into an film in 2007,the key for such acclaim seems to be Anno’s unique treatment of the subject of sex work that relates the situation of the women in the business to that of other young women striving to survive in the contemporary society, whom Anno has so well portrayed in many of her other stories.
Schedule | Sep 17 (Sat) 2016-Sep 25 (Sun) 2016 Opening Hours Information
| ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fee | Free | ||
| Website | http://aikowadagallery.org/en/aikowadagallery/exhibition/2016/the_ukiyoe_harlots/ | ||
| Venue | Ai Kowada Gallery http://www.aikowadagallery.com/ | ||
| Location | Room211 3331 Arts Chiyoda, 6-11-14 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0021 | ||
| Access | 3 minute walk from exit 4 at Suehirocho Station on the Ginza line, 3 minute walk from exit 6 at Yushima Station on the Chiyoda line, 11 minute walk from the Electric Town exit of JR Akihabara Station. | ||
| Phone | 080-4415-8322 | ||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
Back to Articles
SHARE
No comments yet