Description
From Ukiyo-e Project: "Kidomaru was a legendary Japanese sorcerer with supernatural strength and the ability to control snakes. His stories originated during the Kamakura period and have been the subject of many ukiyo-e since. Here, Bowie is depicted as Kidomaru, juxtaposing Bowie's mystic charisma that puts any audience under his spell with Kidomaru's extraordinary power and wizardry. The white kimono echoes the white background of Aladdin Sane, from which the illustrator Masumi Ishikawa took inspiration for the composition of this ukiyo-e. The black gradation in the background is a reference to nightfall, which is when Kidomaru's stories are usually set" (Credits: Photo Duffy, Duffy Archive & The David Bowie Archive, Ukiyo-e Project).
About the artist
With offices in LA and in Tokyo, UKIYO-E PROJECT is a contemporary ukiyo-e publisher founded by Yuka Mitsui in 2014 to keep ukiyo-e craftsmanship thriving by creating a new market for their traditional skills. As the words “ukiyo” and “e” mean “present” and “image” respectively, ukiyo-e naturally depicted popular trends and cultures of their times. Staying true to this philosophy, UKIYO-E PROJECT immortalizes iconic stars and landscapes of today through traditional ukiyo-e woodblock prints, which continue to receive extensive press and have been acquired by international institutions such as the British Museum, the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna (MAK), and the Miami University Libraries.