Edo Pop: The Graphic Impact of Japanese Prints

Image via Complex Original

Edo Pop

Now on view at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Edo Pop: The Graphic Legacy of Japanese Prints shares historic prints of hedonistic pleasures and extravagant pastimes. From beautiful women (read hookers) to travel, these prints hit at the popular culture of  the Edo Period (1615-1868) and had massive influence on Western artists when the doors to japan were opened in the 1850s. The legacy continues today, with contemporary artists pulling from Japanese prints, proving them to be part of one of the world's great artistic traditions. We see Edo nodes in graffiti and hip-hop styled works, and much more, today.

Curated by Matthew Welch, the exhibition runs through January 8, 2012.

Click to view highlights from Edo Pop: The Legacy of Japanese Prints.

Suzuki Harunobu, 1724/25–70
Courtesan with Attendants on Parade, ca. 1766
Color woodblock print (nishiki-e)
Bequest of Richard P. Gale  74.1.67
Cat. no. 26

Within the rarefied world of the Yoshiwara, Edo’s licensed pleasure quarter, the most celebrated courtesans were beyond the reach of all but the wealthiest patrons. Nevertheless, ordinary visitors could view the reigning beauties during their frequent promenades. When venturing into public, a high-ranking courtesan (oiran) was accompanied by a retinue of attendants, including one or two kamuro (female apprentices), a wakaimono (male servant), and one or two shinzø (lower-ranking prostitutes). The somewhat static quality of this print may be Harunobu’s attempt to convey the slow, stylized “figure-eight” gait of the oiran. Such a spectacle, moving slowly through the streets and attracting throngs of onlookers, was an effective means of advertising the great beauties of the Yoshiwara.

Triptych of Cooling Off in the Evening at the Shijø Riverbank, 1784
Color woodblock print (nishiki-e)
Bequest of Richard P. Gale  74.1.126a–c
Cat. no. 77

By 1784 Kiyonaga had fully developed his style of depicting tall, elegant, mature women—images well suited to the generous proportions of nishiki-e øban paper (roughly 15 x 10 inches), newly popular in the 1780s. Kiyonaga also increased the breadth of his compositions by designing multiple-panel prints, giving him scope for sweeping background views and complex compositions featuring numerous figures interacting in a naturalistic manner.

In the scene depicted here, a party enjoys kawayuka (riverside dining) on a platform built over the Kamo River, which runs through the center of Kyoto. Such temporary platforms built by nearby restaurateurs allowed diners to enjoy cooling breezes during Kyoto’s notoriously hot and humid summers.

Tøshñsai Sharaku, active 1794–95
Osagawa Tsuneyo II in a Female Role, 1794
Color woodblock print (nishiki-e) with mica background
Bequest of Richard P. Gale  74.1.187
Cat. no. 113

This distinctive visage is that of the well-known onnagata (female impersonator) Osagawa Tsuneyo II (1753–1808). However, the exact role has yet to be identified. Sharaku may have depicted Tsuneyo in a role that he did not actually perform—that of Sakuragi in Koinyøbø somewake tazuna at the Kawarasaki Theater in 1794.

In the play, Sadanoshin decides to commits suicide to atone for his daughter’s sins. In this print, Tsuneyo’s sad eyes and tense lips are details that would convey Sakuragi’s distress over her husband’s fateful decision. Although Tsuneyo did not play Sakuragi in Koinyøbø somewake tazuna, Sharaku perhaps thought he should have been cast in that role, since Tsuneyo excelled in expressing latent emotion. Thus, this print might present Sharaku’s ideal casting rather than a record of an actual performance.

Katsushika Hokusai, 1760–1849
Kohada Koheiji
From the series One Hundred Tales, 1831–32
Color woodblock print (nishiki-e)
Gift of Louis W. Hill, Jr.  56.52.3
Cat. no. 162

By the time Hokusai embarked on his Hyaku monogatari (One Hundred Tales) series in the early 1830s, the story of Kohada Koheiji was already well known. Invented by the writer Santø Kyøden, Koheiji was a hapless actor who was murdered by his wife’s lover. To the dismay of the cruel couple, however, Koheiji’s spirit returned to haunt them. Hokusai’s print shows the skeleton of Koheiji emerging in supernatural flames that lick the dome of his skull. The flesh still clinging to his bones and the Buddhist rosary hanging around his neck both suggest Koheiji’s recent demise. The bony hands pulling back a mosquito net, presumably over the bed of his wife and her lover, give the apparition a chilling immediacy. Yet by omitting the couple from the scene, Hokusai generalized the haunting in a masterly way, making it the stuff of nightmares for everyone.

Katsushika Hokusai, 1760–1849
Frog and Morning Glories
From the Large Flower Series, ca. 1832
Color woodblock print (nishiki-e)
Bequest of Richard P. Gale  74.1.208
Cat. no. 193

In creating his flower series, Hokusai may have been influenced by the frequent publication, from the early 19th century on, of modest woodblock-printed picture books featuring the latest botanic cultivars. These books were in high demand as gardening became a popular pastime at all levels of society. A book on unusual varieties of morning glories was published in 1815, and many other specialized publications followed. Hidden among Hokusai’s morning glory leaves is a small tree frog whose bent legs echo the vine’s angular branching—a playful note reflecting the artist’s own quirky sensibilities.

Katsushika Hokusai, 1760–1849
Kirifuri Falls near Mount Kurokami in Shimotsuke Province
From the series A Journey to Waterfalls in Various Provinces, ca. 1833
Color woodblock print (nishiki-e)
Bequest of Richard P. Gale  74.1.240
Cat. no. 177

Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542–1616) chose the mountainous region north of Edo as the site of his mausoleum. The construction of roadways into the area made it a popular destination for ordinary travelers, who journeyed from afar to pay their respects to the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate. Visitors also enjoyed the area’s natural beauty, which included several spectacular waterfalls. Hokusai’s vision of Kirifuri Falls is an especially dynamic image in his waterfall series. He depicted only the lower portion of the two-tier falls but has it dominate the picture, thereby emphasizing its scale and power. The diminutive human figures—viewing the falls from a spit of land in the foreground and walking and kneeling precariously partway up the steep slope—accentuate the falls’ grandeur.

Emily Allchurch
British, born 1974
Tokyo Story 1: Lotus Garden (after Hiroshige), 2011
Transparency on lightbox
Courtesy of the artist and GBS Fine Art, UK  L2011.161.1

Emily Allchurch is a British artist living and working in London. She completed her M.A. at the Royal College in 1999. Allchurch established her reputation by creating photographic images that closely reference old master paintings and prints. Using an original artwork as a guide, she takes hundreds of photographs which she digitally splices together to resemble the original composition, but which are composed of contemporary elements that often reveal current social concerns or issues. Her Urban Chiaroscuro series (2007), for example, was inspired by Piranesi’s etching of imaginary prisons, first published in 1749, but she explores ideas of social restrictions, urban blight, and dehumanization in modern European cities.

Long an admirer of Utagawa Hiroshige’s series One Hundred Views of Edo, Allchurch traveled to Tokyo in 2009 and visited the places pictured by Hiroshige over 150 years ago. While many places have changed radically and bear no resemblance to Hiroshige’s images, Allchurch photographed details of the urban landscapes she encountered. These she later used to construct her own views, following Hiroshige’s compositional arrangements, dramatic cropping, and color gradations, while also manipulating every detail of the photographic data to create views that are at once familiar and strangely fresh. The resulting homage to Hiroshige is also a gentle social narrative, capturing elements of traditional Japanese life and culture that have endured through the country’s tumultuous modern history as well as the ingredients that make Tokyo a thoroughly futuristic city

Allchurch based this image on Hiroshige’s Iris Garden at Horikiri from the One Hundred Views of Edo series.

Yoshitomo Nara
Japanese, born 1959
Punk Ebizø, From the series In the Floating World, 1999
Acrylic and color pencil on printed matter
Courtesy of the Eileen Harris Norton  L2011.158.1

Yoshitomo Nara is well known for his drawings, paintings, and sculptures showing cartoon-like children with glowering expressions and menacing weapons. These images seem to embody the alienation and societal disenfranchisement prevalent among adults who grew up as latchkey children and whose reality was defined by cartoons, comic books, animated films, and punk and rock music. Nara has also cited ukiyo-e prints as having exerted an influence on his work. In his 1999 series In the Floating World, he adulterated famous woodblock images, coloring on top of offset-printed reproductions. Some of his images are benignly humorous; others carry a more biting social commentary beneath their juvenile façades.

To transform Tøshñsai Sharaku’s image of the Kabuki actor Ichikawa Ebizø IV into a punk idol, Nara gave him an earring, shoulder spikes, a skull ring, and spiky hair. Nara’s makeover may not be entirely fanciful. The present Ichikawa actor, Ebizø XI, can trace his lineage of Kabuki actors back to the 17th century. A heartthrob among Kabuki fans, he is also a crossover actor who has starred in several films. In adulterating Sharaku’s image, Nara may have been thinking of the young and somewhat rebellious Ebizø XI.

Iona Rozeal Brown
American, born 1966
One for the Money, Two Faux the Show (Still Pimpin’), after Katsukawa Shun’ei’s The Actor Ichikawa Komazo III, 2006
Acrylic, gold leaf on panel
Courtesy of the University of Virginia Art Museum  L2011.170

In 2005, Brown was awarded a grant that enabled her to live in Japan for six months. During that time she studied Kabuki theater. Later, some of her compositions came to reflect her awareness of yakusha-e (actor prints). This composition is based on a design by Katsukawa Shun’ei picturing the Kabuki actor Komazo III in a distinctive, twisting pose. Rather than holding a sword, as in the original, Brown’s hip-hop fan holds a bag emblazoned with a dollar sign. He wears baggy trousers and a loose, open shirt. His face is darkened with ganguro makeup and he sports a white do-rag.

Gajin Fujita
American, born 1972
Crew, 2002
Spray paint, acrylic, and gold leaf on wood
Lent by the Ulrich Museum of Art  L2011.165a–f

Gajin Fujita is a graffiti artist from East Los Angeles.  He is a member of LA graffiti crews K2S (Kill 2 Succeed) and KGB (Kids Gone Bad). He holds an M.F.A. from the University of Nevada and a B.F.A. from Otis College of Art and Design. Fujita combines imagery derived from Japanese woodblock prints with graffiti styles and tagging techniques.

This painting is a tribute to Fujita’s graffiti crew, picturing its members as Kabuki actors against the contemporary backdrop of a heavily tagged wall. Fujita playfully integrates other motifs that hint at his present-day interests. The black hat traditionally worn by Japanese aristocrats, seen here on the fellow in the center of the composition, bears the kangaroo insignia of the British clothier Kangol, whose fashions are popular among hip-hop groups like the Beastie Boys. Rather than a family crest, the same figure also sports the Oakland Raider’s logo, but Fujita mischievously changed the eye-patch from one eye to the other and altered “Raiders” to “Ronins.” In historical Japan, rønin were masterless warriors whose lords had died, suffered defeat, or fallen from political favor. As a result, rønin were disenfranchised from the military hierarchy yet unable to integrate into society at large because of their status and training. So Fujita is likening today’s subcultures, like graffiti crews, to the disaffected warriors of Japan’s Edo period.