Superflat Art

Ooishi Hyoroku Monogatari

Pink Tentacle has a feature on Ooishi Hyoroku Monogatari, a late 18th / early 19th century illustrated folklore.

Tasty Creamsicle

Tasty Creamsicle - Buff Monster

LA based Superflat artist Buff Monster has a new show opening at the Corey Helford Gallery. Buff Monster is both the name of the artist and the reoccurring character that appears in many of his works and is also available as a range of toys. It has obvious parallels with Mr DOB.

Doe / Cupcake

Andrea Canalito

Laestragonian

Laestragonian - Jordan Crane

It is not Superflat but I love this image by Jordan Crane. It seems to have a very Japanese style, especially the waves that are reminiscent of Hokusai’s Great Wave Off Kanagawa and similar Ukiyo-e works. Proably because of the printing processes (Crane's screen printing and Hokusai'a wooden blocks) both place limits on the colours the artist can choose.

Jordan Crane's web site Red Ink Like Blood has a great range of prints, t-shirts and books. Check it out.

Childhood Inspiration for Superflat?

Der Sperling mit der Geschlitzten Zunge b, originally uploaded by peacay.

BibliOdyssey presents this fine example of a Japanese fairy tale book (translated into German). Its from The Baika Women's University Collection of Crêpe Paper Books in Japan consists of more than one hundred and fifty works produced between about 1880 and 1940 in English, Spanish, French, German and Portuguese editions. Not all of the books are present in each language and some of the books were published on thick Japanese paper rather than crêpe paper. Most, but not all, of the books are traditional fairy tales.

Japanese Crepe Paper Fairy Tales for lots more images and links.

GOCOO + GoRo

I went to WOMAD last week and saw an absolutely fabulous gig by Japanese Taiko drummers GOCOO + GoRo. The performance was electrifying and the lead drummer had the most amazing stage presence. The video below can only capture a fraction of what this band is like live.

Ghost Scrolls

Pink Tentacle has a great collection of 19th Century ghost scrolls that are currently being displayed at the Tokyo’s Zenshoan temple. The scrolls were collected by Sanyu-tei Encho, a famous storyteller (rakugo artist) during the Edo era who studied at Zenshoan. Encho is said to have collected the scrolls as a source of inspiration for the ghostly tales he loved to tell in summer.

More: 19th-century ghost scrolls