ART｜"The World of Kashokunin Yapoo_Yoshimasa Murakami Original Drawing Exhibition" Now Open at "artdish" in Kagurazaka
Now Showing at Kagurazaka 'artdish'
The World of 'The Beastly Japanese' - Yoshimasa Murakami Original Art Exhibition
Praise by Yukio Mishima and Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, 'The Beastly Japanese' by Shozo Numa, often called the greatest bizarre book of the post-war era. Yoshimasa Murakami's original art exhibition, featuring all existing original illustrations for 'The Beastly Japanese,' as well as representative works by Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, Junnosuke Yoshiyuki, Yumiko Kurahashi, Mikihiko Renjo, and Jean Genet, is being held at the gallery + dining space 'artdish' in Kagurazaka until Friday, October 28th.
Text by OPENERS
A Feast of Aestheticism, Fantasy, Eroticism, and the Grotesque
Murakami's work, which responded with aesthetic and sensual sensibilities to the book designs and illustrations of writers filled with dilettantism and fantasy, is exquisitely beautiful.
It resembles the view of an artificial garden that blooms while magnificently multiplying and decorating itself.—Aquirax Amano
Serialized in 'Kitan Club' from 1956 and published as a standalone book in 1970, 'The Beastly Japanese,' a masterpiece now considered a classic of the Showa era, sent shockwaves through a Japan enjoying rapid economic growth. The definitive imagery for this great work was provided by the artwork for the illustrations and book design by painter Yoshimasa Murakami.
Men bound by roses, writhing in agony, before the enigmatic smile of a radiant noblewoman—Mr. Murakami, an artist of temperament beloved by Yukio Mishima, who entrusted him with the design for his posthumous work 'The Sea of Fertility,' also unfolded a world of elegant cruelty and resplendent beauty in 'The Beastly Japanese.'
The World of 'The Beastly Japanese' - Yoshimasa Murakami Original Art Exhibition
Exhibition Dates: On display until Friday, October 28, 2011
*Closed: October 5, 11, 17, 24
artdish＋artdish g
107 Yarakucho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
Tel. 03-3269-7289
Business Hours: 12:00 PM - 10:00 PM (Last Order)
Closed Mondays
Also features 'artdish,' a dining space offering a menu centered on seasonal vegetable dishes made with safe ingredients directly from producers.
http://www.artdish.co.jp/g/
Yoshimasa MURAKAMI
Born May 11, 1922, in Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture. He began painting self-taught in his youth and enjoyed watching French films. He was mobilized and served in Taiwan during the war. After the war, he returned home, only to find Nagasaki devastated by the atomic bomb. His lonely youth and the harsh experiences of the war cultivated his eye for seeing beauty within nothingness. After the war, he moved to Tokyo aiming to become an actor. Concurrently, he was repeatedly selected for the Nika Exhibition, where he met Yukio Mishima and began creating posters for the Bungakuza theater company. This led him to create numerous influential book designs for works by Junnosuke Yoshiyuki, Yumiko Kurahashi, Yukio Mishima, Shozo Numa, Tatsuhiko Shibusawa, Ayako Sono, Junichi Watanabe, Harumi Setouchi (Jakucho), Akechi Bako, Mikihiko Renjo, Hiroko Minagawa, as well as the complete works of Jean Genet and Georges Bataille.
For a period, he used the pen name 'Takashi Murakami.' He also created many film posters and record jacket designs. In November 2010, he held his first solo exhibition, 'The World of Yoshimasa Murakami,' at Gallery Oculus, followed by 'Bouquet Dedicated to Literature - Yoshimasa Murakami Exhibition' at the Otaru Museum of Literature in April 2011.