Sharaku - Interpreted by Japan's Contemporary Artists
"Melina" Cultural Hall of the Athens Municipality
Athens, Greece
5 - 25 July 2007

by Rea Cris

Toshusai Sharaku is a phantom character in Japanese art history. Estimated to have lived during the Edo period, he appeared for a brief ten-month period in the 1790s, only to disappear just as mysteriously. In that short space of time Sharaku managed to produce some of Japan's most revered ukiyo-e painting, mainly portraits of actors in their kabuki or kyogen roles. Not popular in is own lifetime, he was rediscovered by German scholar Julius Kurth in 1910, establishing Sharaku as one of Japan's most outstanding artists throughout the world. Two hundred years later and Sharaku's influence is still felt among contemporary Japanese artist and graphic designers.

This touring show, sponsered by the Japan Foundation, brings together a collection of
twenty-eight of Sharaku's better-known caricatures from the kabuki theatre. The show mixes pieces recreated by the Adachi Institute of Woodcut Prints using traditional
techniques, as well as posters from sixty-seven graphic designers for an exhibit in 1994 to celebrate Sharaku's bicentenary and works by eleven contemporary artists. After research on the internet, I get the impression that the exhibit tends to adapt depending on location and the means available.

In its Athenian incarnation, the bicentenary posters that single out Sharaku's characteristic elements such as mouths, eyes and hairstyles, are juxtaposed against the twenty-eight reproductions of Sharaku's work, which is beneficial to anyone who mihgt not be familiar with his work. This presentation allows a direct visual link between Sharaku and his influence over Japanese graphic designers. Yasumasa Morimura's self-portraits as Sharaku's Kabuki actors have a disquieting effect. Known for stepping into the skins of esteemed western paintings, such as the Mona Lisa, Morimura's physical attempt to squeeze within Sharaku's lines causes him to grimace and turn grotesque and as a result, seemingly mock Sharaku. Miran Fukuda also paints her self-portrait, sourcing directly from Sharaku's poses. Though capturing the androgynous feel of Sharaku's actors, Fukuda paints in garish coulours, making the faces appear puffy and old compared to the smooth porcelain-like surface of the wood-block prints. Other artists do not take such an obvious starting point in relating to their influence. Naofumi Maruyama reverses the fundamentals of portraiture, making his portraits washed out and blurry, their features hidden beneath the surface in sharp contrast to Sharaku's razor-sharp facial features. There is, of course Takashi Murakami's Mr. Dob, Japan's biggest commodity, as no exhibit remotely related to Japan is complete without one. I don't doubt the influence of Sharaku on Murakami's artistic and design career, but I do believe a better example could have been chosen as opposed to a Mr. Dob print which is a satirical criticism of Disney's Micky Mouse empire.

Three-dimensional works include some porcelain vessels by AkiraYagi, which, along with Yukio Fuijimoto's music boxes, go unexplained a far as their connection or lack of to Sharaku. Along with some commemorative stamps, they are flung about the exhibit on flimsy tables, like an afterthought.

It is hard to come to a conclusion about this exhibition, especially after reading other reviews where more contemporary work seems to have been present. You're not sure whether you're looking at the whole picture, literally. I get the impression that this exhibit is only a stop-over until the next more large and complete exhibit. I wish more energy had been put into this as it is obvious that there is so much more to explore and discover.

http://www.greece-japan.com/en/publish/article_202.shtml

Other articles about the touring exhibit:

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/21/1082395903233.html?from=storyrhs
http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2001-02-22/art.html

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