* * Winner of the 2017 Silver Medal for Fine Art (National Level) from the Independent Publisher Book Awards * * Featuring dozens of stunning Japanese woodblock prints, textiles, serving vessels and thoughtful essays, Seduction paints a vibrant and provocative picture of Japan's Uikoyo-e or 'floating world.' 'The Floating World' was catch phrase that defined the pleasure quarters of Edo-period Japan's (1615-1868) and conveyed a fantasy realm where men were led to believe they could drift aimlessly in the pursuit of pleasure. Brothels were a prominent feature, but other entertainments, such as theater, music, and wrestling were also offered. Pursuit of such pleasures prompted a revolution in fashion, literature, and the visual arts, as the pleasure district was marketed not just through the offer of sex but rather through the elaboration of the seductive image of a sophisticated demimonde that beckoned visitors. Seduction show how images of courtesans were constructed as objects of desire, and it considers how the artistic version aligned with or departed from the reality of women's lives. It traces the ways that art was used to transport viewers to a constructed realm of sensory delights to stimulate desires and gratify fantasies of carefree pleasure. Editor Laura W. Allen offers an overview of the seductive spell cast by the floating world and provides helpful entries on each of the featured objects. Essays by Melinda Takeuchi, Eric C. Rath, and Julia Meech introduce the floating world, consider the role of food in the pleasure quarter, and explore the feminine gaze in the Japanese print. A translation of the texts on the Hishikawa Moronobu scroll is included. The result is a fascinating study of the way that visual objects were used to convey insider knowledge about the latest fashions in clothing, hairstyles, accessories, and even games. Armed with such knowledge, a visitor to the pleasure quarters would be prepared for the pursuit of love and other objects of desire.

This fresh look at artist Takashi Murakami takes on the “monstrous� themes of rampant consumerism, human fallibility, and the perils of life in the digital fast lane, in works from the past decade   One of Japan’s leading contemporary artists, Takashi Murakami (b. 1962) is known for a wide-ranging practice that encompasses not only fine art but fashion, consumer products, curation, and entertainment. Founder of the Superflat movement, Murakami makes art that is larger than life, boldly colored, and buoyant, with a Pop sensibility that draws inspiration from anime and manga.   But beyond the happy flowers and kawaii characters that have defined Murakami’s career lurk darker manifestations: the sharp-toothed, multi-eyed monsters that have increasingly become the artist’s vehicle for expressing the effects of rampant consumerism, human fallibility, and the perils of life in the digital fast lane. This book explores these themes in works from the last decade, presenting a disquieting vision of monsterized beings born in an era of unprecedented environmental, political, and social turmoil.   Conversations with Murakami and essays by Laura W. Allen, Hiroko Ikegami, and Masako Shiba deconstruct what monsters mean to the artist and reflect on new directions in Murakami’s sculpture and the genesis of his recent NFT projects. The book features lavish color illustrations, a plastic jacket, dyed edges, and four gatefolds.   Published in association with the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco   Exhibition Schedule:   Asian Art Museum of San Francisco (September 15, 2023–February 12, 2024)