Inoue Takehiko: The LAST Manga Exhibition
It's an odd title for a manga showing, but the artist, Inoue Takehiko, demonstrates some amazing ability in this exhibition based on his work, Vagabond. If you recall, this manga was one I wasn't terribly fond of due to seemingly gratutitous violence, but I clearly missed out on the skill used to paint those images. The following link will give you some backstory to the exhibit, and I'll try to discuss what changed my mind about his work behind the cut.
http://www.suntory.com/culture-sports/smt/gallery/index.html
This exhibit takes from his series which is loosely based on the life of Musashi Miyamoto. The link suggests that the series is still ongoing, but this tale clearly ends with Miyamoto's death from illness, and his final images are a series of interactions with prominent characters from the manga. What the exhibit offers above and beyond the manga is the ability to control the environment where the viewer reads the material.
We're introduced to the series of large 'pages' hung upon the white walls, with the lights giving the rooms we're guided through a soft warm glow. At times, the images are delicately put on the walls, rather than canvas, leading further into the maze of narrative and imagery. The pages range from about 2' x 3' (feet), though sometimes they're as big as 10 feet tall. As we continue, we're led into black rooms, one with a large canvas laid out like a tombstone, showing Musashi's bloody, muscular body crawling from a massive melee. The walls contain wild splashes of ink, as the brush slices at the canvas as a sword would. We're out of the dark memory, and back into the warm glow of comforting thoughts and revelations.
The best part of it, though, is when he escapes the controlling canvas, allowing his scenes to spill into our world. The dropped sword, the small twig, the sand from the beach; tools used as a medium between his tale and our world. Mixed with the lighting and room coloration, I honestly felt that Inoue had succeeded in creating a level of sensation which would be impossible in simple manga format.
The delicate pen and pencil offer both sketchy outline and detailed work, with strong brush strokes accentuate the darkness in the scenes. This is what I missed in his manga; I was too annoyed with what I percieved as the 'teenage-power fantasy' of the violence when I should have been looking at the beauty that was present. The detail in the kimono, the solid curved lines for the character contrasted with the 'fast moving' background of sketched forest, the beauty of the sword arc and blood spray; I missed these, and I rather regret that.
I hadn't expected this exhibit to be so moving, but I'm glad I experienced it. There's closure to a tale I had given up on, and I was corrected for misjudging someone's work.
Oh, and I saw a 3D IMAX film. Something about life under the sea, and it was quite good, though I must admit that I nodded off a few times. The swaying movements of the three dimensional plants with the soothing music lulled me to sleep. From what I remember, the visual effects were quite superb, though I found my left eye (the one which had laser surgery done) often pained when things got too 'close.'
http://www.suntory.com/culture-sports/smt/gallery/index.html
This exhibit takes from his series which is loosely based on the life of Musashi Miyamoto. The link suggests that the series is still ongoing, but this tale clearly ends with Miyamoto's death from illness, and his final images are a series of interactions with prominent characters from the manga. What the exhibit offers above and beyond the manga is the ability to control the environment where the viewer reads the material.
We're introduced to the series of large 'pages' hung upon the white walls, with the lights giving the rooms we're guided through a soft warm glow. At times, the images are delicately put on the walls, rather than canvas, leading further into the maze of narrative and imagery. The pages range from about 2' x 3' (feet), though sometimes they're as big as 10 feet tall. As we continue, we're led into black rooms, one with a large canvas laid out like a tombstone, showing Musashi's bloody, muscular body crawling from a massive melee. The walls contain wild splashes of ink, as the brush slices at the canvas as a sword would. We're out of the dark memory, and back into the warm glow of comforting thoughts and revelations.
The best part of it, though, is when he escapes the controlling canvas, allowing his scenes to spill into our world. The dropped sword, the small twig, the sand from the beach; tools used as a medium between his tale and our world. Mixed with the lighting and room coloration, I honestly felt that Inoue had succeeded in creating a level of sensation which would be impossible in simple manga format.
The delicate pen and pencil offer both sketchy outline and detailed work, with strong brush strokes accentuate the darkness in the scenes. This is what I missed in his manga; I was too annoyed with what I percieved as the 'teenage-power fantasy' of the violence when I should have been looking at the beauty that was present. The detail in the kimono, the solid curved lines for the character contrasted with the 'fast moving' background of sketched forest, the beauty of the sword arc and blood spray; I missed these, and I rather regret that.
I hadn't expected this exhibit to be so moving, but I'm glad I experienced it. There's closure to a tale I had given up on, and I was corrected for misjudging someone's work.
Oh, and I saw a 3D IMAX film. Something about life under the sea, and it was quite good, though I must admit that I nodded off a few times. The swaying movements of the three dimensional plants with the soothing music lulled me to sleep. From what I remember, the visual effects were quite superb, though I found my left eye (the one which had laser surgery done) often pained when things got too 'close.'