Anodyne
Sunday, July 09, 2006
 

Yoshitoshi, Hazy-Night Moon -- Kumasaka (1887)
From the series 100 Aspects of the Moon

The ghost of the bandit Kumasaka, in full Noh robes, returned however briefly to life and charging around in the moonlight. The first Yoshitoshi print I ever saw (in an otherwise mediocre "Vancouver Collects" show at the VAG -- Claude Breeze, William Morris, late Andy Warhol portraiture, yawn) and one of probably half a dozen artworks that I think about almost every day. Michelina's friend and protector Monkey is largely based on Kumasaka, a character who only looks ridiculous, and one who, so far as I can tell, is totally oblivious to the idea that anyone could mistake him for anything other than a husky, virile, square-jawed warrior.

For the record, those other "almost daily" artworks are as follows:

Bruce Nauman, Pay Attention (lithograph)
Jasper Johns, Painted Bronze (painted bronze sculpture)
Alfred Stieglitz, The Asphalt Paver (photogravure)
Evan Lee, Stars and Glitter (photograph)
Philip Guston, Sleeping (painting)
Jeff Wall, Still Creek, Vancouver, Winter 2003 (transparency in lightbox)
Elaine Sturtevant, Warhol Flowers (paintings)

- posted by cjb @ 4:34 PM


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