Essay on Yasumasa Morimura

As I was looking through the never-ending list of artists on the PBS program “Art21,” there was only one name that really captured my attention. That name was Marela Zacarías. I think one of the main reasons as to why I was so intrigued to click on this artist was because her name sounded Spanish and being Hispanic has always been something I have been proud of. What made my choice even better was when I selected on Marela Zacarías’s name and began reading I found out she was Mexican just like me. At that point, there was no doubt I was going to do this assignment based off one of her artworks. When I began researching Zacarías and her art, I was hoping to love her work. Not only did I end up enjoying most of her art but ended up loving the piece called Mannahatta. Without a doubt, it became one of my favorite sculptures right away.

CLS- He achieved a mystical attribute into all of his images with the inspiration from various paintings that shared the same aspect and editing them to have a natural effect.

Modern Oni have transformed over the years since its conception. They can look more eclectic than their ancestral cousins. They have been seen as benign and sometimes benevolent beings. They can still shapeshift but choose more sexually attractive females who are alluring and can also be naughty a child in some cases. The commercial interests that writers and artists face in the modern age has forced those changes to adapt to societies wants and views. Japan’s socio-economic evolution into one of the most industrialized nations in the world reflects the change in art.

French impressionists such as Gaugin, Manet and Monet are some of the many who were overcome by this bombardment of Asian art. Morimura has introduced wit into this work by substituting rose leaves in the place of fig leaves to hide his genitals. This can be seen as a form of revenge on Manet for he was a ‘pupil’ of Japanese art. This mystery of sexual identity also leads to a sense of intertextuality that stems from Morimura’s role as an androgynous critic.

She is the author/illustrator of most of her books. Her illustrations are hand-drawn and very colorful. There is a lot of detail in the illustrations. Some of the illustrations have labels that tell what the parts of the illustration are or to explain what it is. Many of the people she creates have the same face shape, but each one is different in its own

   Although The Tale of Genji, by Murasaki Shikibu, is set in late tenth-century Japan, the plights of the characters are universal. In Chapter 12, Genji leaves his wife, who is named after the author, and goes into exile. Desperately in love with Genji, Muraskai is similar to Euripides' Medea in the play of the same name. She suffers because her husband, Jason, abandons her for a princess. Shikibu and Euripides seem to have shared the same worldviews about women's emotional dependence on their mates.

The author who brought to us The Tale of Genji, a novel now regarded as the first written novel in history, left behind an arguably more treasurable artifact: a diary that opens a window into history. The Diary of Lady Murasaki by Lady Murasaki Shikibu gives the reader a glimpse of the imperial court during eleventh century Japan and presents the past in an illuminated vision. Being an attendant in the imperial court, Lady Murasaki is frequently involved with the activities of elite Japanese women. Her day-to-day interaction with the nobles and elites enhance her account with the curious perspective of an elite female. As a woman, Lady Murasaki's descriptions are oriented around clothing

Shinji from The Sound of Waves, written by the Japanese author Yukio Mishima, and Medea from Medea, written by the Greek playwright Euripides, Shinji and Medea both display honor, however, while Shinji’s honor results in his selflessness, Medea’s honor is her demise. Shinji goes out of his way in his everyday life in order to help his fellow villagers on the island in any way possible. So when he one day spots some villagers trying to bring in a boat, without making much progress, he decides to “lend a hand” (Mishima 39). Shinji is not obliged to help, but he does it out of the kindness of his heart. Shinji realizes that, with his help, the boat can be pulled in quickly.

In the essentially dual religious system in Japan, ideologies and traditions play a heavy role in the everyday life of the Japanese people. Shintoism and Buddhism intertwine and complement themselves in Japanese culture, despite Buddhism coming in from mainland Asia. A particularly powerful idea from Buddhism is mono no aware, the realization and acknowledgment of the impermanence and its place in the world. This idea that nothing stays the same forever manifests itself heavily in Japanese literature, whether in personal writings or fictional works. Despite spanning hundreds of years, each work was shaped by and include manifestations of mono no aware. I intend to underline and pinpoint instances that mono no aware is influencing these works, and discuss similarities and differences between them. In this paper, I have three works that I will explore, each one corresponding to a different time period before the pre-industrial revolution; The Diary of Lady Murasaki comes from the classical period, Essays in Idleness from the medieval, and the immensely popular play Chushingura from the pre-modern era.

Post-war Japanese society is a world where High and Low art is blurred together by otaku, such as anime, and social class. However, Takashi Murakami straddles the line. Murakami spills a mix of Nihanga and Otaku into the canvases, plastic toys, handbags, shoes, etc; endorsing his own theory/style named “Superflat”. Using strategical subject matter such as popular Japanese comic figures combined with ukiyo-e(traditional Japanese block prints), and addressing these contrasting qualities to outside cultures; Murakami intensifies what Pop Art accomplished, art versus material. On other feelings, one could argue that “Superflat” isn’t a unique, Japan-identified style, that “Superflat” is a humiliation to the Contemporary Art world because of its commercialism. Lastly, that is a continuation of the already well developed Pop Art. On the supporting side, Murakami’s “Superflat” is a high-energy, cross-culture style that serves as a new way to represent the high and low of art that is considerably unique to Japan. To support this, Murakami’s past and present artwork will have to be established chronologically to illustrate how the timeline affects his work.

Winston Churchill once said, “Without tradition, art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd. Without innovation, it is a corpse” (“Bons Mots: Famous Quotes of Winston Churchill,” 1). The Japanese art pieces from the Muromachi, the Momoyama and the Tokugawa period each incorporate/represent Buddhist beliefs and traditions as well as diversity. Each of the time periods introduced a unique piece starting with the Muromachi Period (1392-1573), which contributed the Menpó (a half mask) and the Akodanari Kabuto (a melon-shaped helmet. Next came the Momoyama period (1573- 1615), which contributed the frontal plate of do and last came the Tokugawa period (1600-1868),

224). Jouve (1997) suggests that Miyake’s approach differs to Western design arguing that “he sees the body as a reed, a neutral flexible thing, in the tradition of the kimono. Yet Miyake suggests that the oversized and sculptural shapes have more to do with accessibility and the experience of the wearer:

Following the revolutionary Meiji Era, Taisho Art focused on eroticism and outrageous absurdity. Due to a shift in power from the weakening Emperor Yoshihito, Japanese culture encouraged artists to further express their own styles and thoughts on Western culture and which strengthened a sense of individuality and increasing departure from traditional private Japanese customs. The following Shōwa movement only further increased this individualism. Despite this vibrant cultural merging of expression that inspired most art during this period, some artists continued to keep art to its traditional roots– simplicity. Two examples of this are found at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; Rabbit Gazing at the Moon by Ōta Ryōhei and Sketch of a Rabbit by Takeuchi Seihö.

Almost instantaneously recognizable, The Great Wave off Kanagawa (woodblock, 10 1/8 x 14 15/16 in, c. 1830-32), created by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai in 1830, beautifully captures the graceful, swelling movement of a crashing tsunami. Because of the way in which line and proportion are utilized, this woodblock print gracefully portrays the sheer power of the ocean. Derived from the Edo period in nineteenth century Japan, this classic was the first of a series of works from Hokusai titled Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji, all of which effortlessly depict the mountain in a wide array of angles and scenery. Arguably, The Great Wave off Kanagawa is the most iconic and cherished piece of Japanese artwork in the world. Even more importantly, Hokusai is considered prominent father figure for both Japanese art, as well as Western modernization as a whole. The Great Wave truly displays how tiny and weak man is compared to the force of nature. Not only is The Great Wave a quintessential piece of art, but it established a piece in the comprehensive networks of art, trade, and politics, that has instilled a tremendous positive impact on the twenty first century.

Shiro Kuramta was born Yoshiji Sugiura to parents Sei and Yoshiji on November 29, 1934, in Tokyo, Japan. As is sometimes the tradition in Japan, Kuramata’s father kept the name of his first wife, Chiyo Kuramata, even after she passed and he remarried Sei. At the time of his birth his parents were living in the staff housing at the Research Institute of Physic and Chemistry where his father worked . He was the youngest of three girls and four boys, living in a very disciplined household, and began his education when he was seven years old. Tokyo at this time was undergoing a change that would allow it to catch up with the First World, and taking steps to become self-sufficient in its development of industries; educating engineers, scientists, architects, and designers. This interest in the culture of the Western world and the technological advancements all lead to a policy of modernization and fast pace advancement in which Kuramata was born into. Homes were simplistic and there was an appreciation for empty space, another facet that can be seen in Kuramata’s work .