William Wegman

On Mrs. Wegman's Couch

1982

A Lightjet print on Fuji Gloss Archive paper and acrylic enamel paint by contemporary artist Timothy Tompkins. Painted Landscape v.1 is executed primarily in saturated blues and gree...

"Wave Series/Tattooed Woman at Sunset Beach" is a unique watercolor utilizing Edo-period imagery by contemporary, Japanese artist, Masami Teraoka. The framed artwork measures 22 1/2 x 17 1/2 x 1 in. This work is an example of Teraoka's icon of cross-cultural exchange as a submersible yet insuppressible individual, striking out on her own with rented snorkel equipment. Her traditional wave-pattern tattoos and resemblance to a Hokusai pearl diver are time-honored devices recognizable from Edo-era ukiyo-e, but here they are the mark of a very up-to-date woman of the world-and a sign of things to come. "In my mind tattoos were taboo, because we associated tattoos with yakuza gangsters in Japan then," the artist explains. "Those were the only people in Japan who had tattoos, to show off their machismo. So when I saw tattoos in this country, it seemed to me to be a really significant attitude that Americans are not really uptight about having tattoos. Thirty years later, tattoos are invading Japan. Young people have them on their arms, so they can cover them with long­sleeved shirts. Perhaps they try to hide them from their parents, but the younger generation is much more open to tattoos and piercings." Born in Onomichi in Hiroshima Prefecture, Teraoka studied at what is now Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. His works are inspired by Japanese Ukiyo-e woodcut prints. However, Teraoaka infuses the style and techniques of the traditional art with American Pop Art. The mass-produced nature of Japanese woodcut prints...