Traditional Japanese woodblock carvings give Nintendo a newfound gravitas

Who said Pokemon, Mario Kart and Donkey Kong couldn’t be cool, cultured or in anyway artistic? Everyone that’s who! After all Nintendo is a trivial pastime reserved for your childhood memories right? Pushed to the back of your mind whilst you pretend to be a high-flyer in an adult world. And as for Pokemon – Poke-who? 

Come on, you’re not fooling anyone, the world is Nintendo-mad, and now Jed Henry has revived classic Nintendo game characters and transformed them into traditional woodblock carvings. Yay!

Jed’s series of prints were made using traditional Japanese methods to transform Nintendo characters into Ukiyo-e woodblock prints – just like they were made hundreds of years ago. And with only a handful of people on this earth who still know how to perfect the ancient techniques of such a traditional method of printmaking (together with the huge gathering of closet Nintendo fans lurking out there) it is no wonder that the project has caused such a stir.