It is always easy as a westerner to be charmed by Asian art, because it is to our eyes and mind different – and exotic. Images, analogies and compositions that are normal in Asian culture are new and exciting for western art lovers.
Madame Yoshida certainly plays with a lot of Asian elements – but I like her global and intimate approach to her art. Very fascinating.
More? Official Site
This is one amazing collection of images. Bring a lot of time and dive into this incredible gallery.
Mister Leping Zha you are a genius!!!
What I love about Japanese woodcuts are the different faces from classical European art. The Japanese are the real inventors of comics!
Another great woodcut by Maestro Tsukioka Yoshitoshi. Until the second world war Japans cities mostly consisted out of wooden buildings. So fire was a real threat to them – and firefighter even more important.
Too sad that American decided to totally devastated these old cities through incendiary bombings – which totally snuffed out most of Japan’s cities BEFORE they dropped the atomic bombs. Actually both cities were spared any air attacks to ’save’ them for the big experiments.
Anyway – this is a great painting. Bugger.
Many nations have developed their own complex music systems, which are very different from the currently dominant European sounds. Bali – like India and China – has many unique and so called ‘exotic’ sounds to offer.
Since I heard Gamelan music the first time in the movie ‘The Year of Living Dangerously‘ I was hooked. The sound blew me away. It was hypnotic, weird, yet filled and magical by it’s own harmonic system. Pure fascination.
Compared to so called classical western music Gamelan is stone old – going back at least to the 12th century.
More? Wikipedia entry, Gamelan performance (music and dance)
The other famous form of Balinese music is the Kecak dance (strangely developed with the help of a German painter).
Compared to the soothing Gamelan music this is pure stress, pulsing aggression and unusual harmony to western ears. But I like it. It has a power and expressiveness hardly found in any other music (I know of).
Make sure your speakers are down if you listen to this in the Office. Or crank them up to the max if you are at home.
More? Wikipedia entry, Kecak video from the great movie Baraka, another Kecak dance and Monkey Fire Dance full Moon Ritual
Sit down weary traveler and enjoy a moment of Asian bliss.
Do you have enough pillows at home to enjoy many different sexual positions and enjoy yourselves?
Another day in paradise. Just watching just picture fills me with a quiet tranquillity.
Amazing colours, drama, action and a Geisha in distress. I love this painting.
Here we see a famous japanese hero – Minamoto no Yoshitsune:
Because of Yoshitsune’s tragic life and early death, he is one of the greatest folk heroes of Japan, becoming the subject of and influencing many works of Japanese literature and Japanese drama, especially the Tale of the Heike and Gikeiki (the name of which means “The Chronicle of Yoshitsune”), while the details of his life became legendary. For example, legend has it that while at Kurama Temple as a youth, he was trained by tengu, legendary bird-men warriors, in swordsmanship. Most of the tales focus on his later days in exile, fleeing from Yoritomo with his loyal retainers, including the warrior-monk Saito Musashibo Benkei. It is said his few retainers held off a force many times greater than their own to allow Yoshitsune to commit seppuku.
You don’t have to pain realisticly to capture the spirit of nature. Art like this just knocks me over! I love the simplicity on one side and the extreme momentum on the other. Perfect!
More about Ohara Koson here.
