Japanese art, as anyone who has been within Japan's borders for more than five minutes will understand, extends beyond Sumi-e and into the infinity of what can be classified as such.
It quite literally lines the streets, though said lining often takes a form of questionable legality
(on a side note I've still to investigate Japan's seemingly disproportionate amount of graffiti...and I still don't know who this Flash is)
It's not hard to find a person near JR Osaka Station, Kyobashi (a young lady I bought a picture from explained that she's there on certain days of the week depending on whether or not she's shooed by the police), or Shinsaibashi (the station or the walkway itself) vending their wares. The vast majority seems to be beyond the scope of what would considered traditionally Japanese; from my experience Sumi-e folk seem to be nonexistent in these places and even Japanese calligraphers tend to take a non-orthodox approach in their characters, going more for personal aesthetic than "traditional" cultural adherance
or prints of pictures in a variety of styles for every nearly every shade of the palatte, so long as one is not looking for anything beyond what might be considered the apparently phillistine. What you can find out on the street seems more reserved for people who would place it on their body or perhaps set up in a small apartment than for those that would discuss a piece over a snifter of brandy.
1 comment:
Oh it seems you could have come up with better sumi-e links than wikipedia deshoo...
Your classmate discussed Flash in a recent post:
http://mvpjpn.blogspot.com/2008/02/personal-findings.html
Street art in Kyobashi, Shinsaibashi, Umeda, etc. seems to be a very interesting subject. I'd like to read more about it. And perhaps see some pictures of the artists doing their thing.
Post a Comment