Hidden Pictures of Cruelty

Kazunori Kanze is one of three artists whose extraordinary work is showcased in Hidden Pictures of Cruelty (2011) from Japanese publisher Atelier Third.

A digest-sized book, it features more than a hundred truly dark and disturbing visions from Kanze, Seiyo Usui, and Takashi Shima. 

This Seiyo Usui piece is typical of the artist's deliciously troubling work.

One of dozens of Takashi Shima's contributions. 

Anybody with an interest in artists Robert Bishop, DeMullotto, Hiroaki Samura, Toshio Saeki, Trevor Brown, Romain Slocombe, Jun Hayami, Horihone Saizou, Shintaro Kago, Waita Uziga, and Suehiro Maruo will more than warm to this intense and beautiful publication.

Available from akatako.net

The Grotesque Beauty of Shintaro Kago

I've been hanging out for The Art of Shintaro Kago (Timeless; November 2012) for quite a while, so I'm happy to report that it is a thing -- and I do mean THING -- of beauty.

My scans, which are mere segments of the plates, do not do justice to the sheer size and sizzle of this volume. It is a 30 x 40 cm venture across 35 vividly illustrated pages. Even the above cover scan is a mere bottom third of the full illustration.

Kago, a controversial artist who shares thematic concerns and rich, lurid aesthetics with the likes of Suehiro Maruo and Toshio Saeki, is not as well represented book-wise as those artists.

He is, however, a little infamous for his fine line of grotesque toys such as:

Flying Head Monster (described as 'Frying' on the website)

Daruma Girl

Dismembered Body

Cannibal Man's Dessert

Seppuku Girl

Dead Corpse (slightly redundant title)

and Accidental Cat.

Kago has many obsessions, and headlessness (dismemberment also) is surely a primary one. His use of color and texture is quite stunning, as is an underlying sense of paranoid outrage.

To grab this special limited edition from and published by France's Timeless (www.timeless-shop.com), act fast!, for only 300 copies have been printed.

This exciting publication by an on-line distributor of fascinating art reminds me somewhat of Last Gasp's oversized Toshio Saeki publication of 2009, Onikage. The same level of passion and perfection infects every page.

The Earliest Works of Toshio Saeki

 

This had been eluding me for some time, but I finally got my hands on it, and I was not disappointed.

Saeki's very early works lack none of the perverse imagination of his later creations, and it's inspiring to see how themes have remained constant.  

 

For mine, nobody blends the grotesque with the erotic as sincerely as Saeki, although I am certainly not discounting the beautiful and eclectic work of Suehiro Maruo, Jun Hayami, Hiroaki Samura.

 

Saeki's art, for me, is the purest extension of Japanese woodcuts, and explores the theme of man/woman/beast unions with a commitment that's sometimes dizzying for its freshness.

 

The best of the best mines the darkest human catacombs and excavates the brittle beauty of fresh experience. 

I've written extensively on this blog about Saeki, 

so use the search function if you want to see more.

The Utterly Splendid World of Suehiro Maruo

 

Miminashi Hohichi in the Dark (1999, 2011; Seirin Kogeisha)  is another extraordinary excursion into the world of Suehiro Maruo, the prolific artist behind Mr. Arashi's Amazing Freak Show (filmed as Midori) and Ultra Gash Inferno.

Although there have been several English language editions of his books, many have never been translated from the Japanese, and probably never will.

 

Maruo often insinuates iconic figures into his work, so the appearance of Frankenstein's 'Monster' in one story here provides disturbing and fascinating pulp fodder. After encountering a mother and daughter, he proceeds to engage in intercourse with one while the other becomes an equally unwilling participant.

There have been slightly sexualized versions of the Monster's story, but few feature the ferocious carnality of this gem.    

 

 

Georges Bataille's Histoire De L'oeil (Story of the Eye; 1928) surely had a muscular influence on Maruo and many of his contemporaries. Variations of and tableaux inspired by the book's deliciously grotesque eroticism permeate the artist's work.

 

Imo-Mushi (Beam Comix; 2009) is Maruo's take on Edogawa Rampo's Caterpillar story (filmed twice as: Caterpillar, and as one of four stories in the uneven Rampo anthology Rampo Noir). 

 

 

With surprisingly little fanfare, Koji Wakamatsu's Caterpillar (reviewed on this blog several months ago) has finally been released in the US by Kino Video.  

Although I had some reservations about its very plain digital appearance, it is still a very worthwhile and respectful take on the story.

 

As these images indicate, Maruo's version is a more deeply erotic interpretation, eschewing some of the source's political content. Still, the artist amply conveys the horrors of war hero worship and delivers a frightening, brutal yarn.

  An upcoming Maruo translation to English is The Strange Tale of Panorama Island. Although the book has been delayed for a while now, I hope it's release is still imminent. 

Personally, I'd prefer a translated volume of Maruo's insanely brutal and beautiful Lunatic Lovers (2007; Seirin Kogeisha). The images below barely capture the corrupt, vile, transgressive essence of this work.

 

 

 

An exceptionally good source for Maruo's work is  akatako.net

The Mighty Maruo Returns

Fans of Suehiro Maruo and Edogawa Ranpo have reason to rejoice this quarter with the publication of Ranpo Panorama.

This is a stunning, glossy Japanese gift in which Suehiro interprets the works of Japanese literary giant Edogawa Ranpo.

Variations on twenty-six English characters can not adequately describe the magic, wonder, and romantic sensuality to be found within these pages.

The artist has excelled himself in this work, and it is easily his best since the publication of his groundbreaking 'Maruograph' volumes.

The book is available through US stores such as Kinokuniya for the paltry price of US$33, or through Amazon.co.jp

Like artists such as Toshio Saeki and Hideshi Hino, Maruo finds fresh flesh beneath the fascia that somehow holds us together. His art is a lifelong poem to passionate invention unhindered by fear and social pressure.

A massive bonus in this volume is the inclusion, care of Beam Comics, of Suehiro Maruo's unofficial sequel to Mr. Arshi's Amazing Freak Show.

Also based on a Ranpo story, "The Midget is Dancing" is a delightfully grotesque, beautiful, and subversive tale in which a midget finds true love after an act of dismemberment.

Do not hesitate to add this titanic volume to your literary ossuary of perversion.

From Enterbrain and Beam Comics (c) 2010

***

Scans above are not accurate representations of the actual art appearing in this book. Due to the difficulty of scanning bound pages, the scans are compromises intended to give you a taste only of the beauty to be found within Ranpo Panorama.

More Love For The Brute Beauty of Samura Hiroaki

A brief return to Hitodenasi no KOI  (Love of the Brute; 2006), the Sadean masterpiece by Samura Hiroaki.

Easily one of the most confronting, aesthetically brilliant, potent works of the imagination I've ever seen, it contrasts idyllic images of youth with Bosch-like visions of horror, torture, and euphoria.

I've always admired artists who bring such finesse to such inflammatory subject matter.

Pieces like this demonstrate the raw power of uncompromised expression.

Sexual abuse often involves gross betrayal. Samura's work is rife with betrayal and the shattering of trust.

The theme was explored rigorously in his disturbing  Bradherley's Coach, a heartbreaking manga in which  the hopes and dreams of orphans are destroyed by an aristocratic patron.

The manga remains one of the most moving affirmations of life by virtue of its intense focus on the taking and abuse of it.

Samura's art depicts a world of carnal nihilism in which the appetite of one is satisfied at the expense of another --  certainly not a theme foreign to any of us living in economies driven by the accumulation of capital.

The modern artists I'd most closely associate Samura with in terms of their aesthetic are de Mullotto (see separate blog) and Frenchman Antoine Bernhart (see separate blog also), two creators of extraordinary visions of sexual psychosis.

Samura also shares company with Toshio Saeki, Suehiro Maruo, Hideshi Hino, and Robert Bishop.
   

 

A stunning piece from Antoine Bernhard

The work and courage of these brilliant artists celebrates the complexity and preciousness of life by illuminating its fragility.

de Sade's work continues.