Frog wars, lizard queens and some rather unpleasant dogs from the brilliant Mu Pan

Date
19 April 2013

Somewhere between Kuniyoshi, the last great master of ukiyo-e printmaking and the godfather of brutal surrealism in Japanese art, and Toshio Saeki, the foremost practitioner of bizarre, beautiful ukiyo-e inspired erotica sits Mu Pan, a Brooklyn-based artist channelling all the darkest, most surreal elements of his genius predecessors into large, complex watercolours and oil paintings. Mu’s work is not for the faint of heart; it’s riddled with explorations of the darker sides of humanity and serves as a fantasy satirisation of contemporary life.

Granted, Mu may not be to everyone’s tastes – who can blame you for not wanting pictures of large-breasted lizards under siege by lilliputian armies hanging on your living room wall – but for those of us with a predilection for the weird, this guy offers the very finest blend of prodigious artistic talent and twisted imagination. You want a series of paintings featuring drooling hounds with tiger-shaped members? You got it!

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Mu Pan: Loving You For 10000 Years

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Mu Pan: Ghost Island

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Mu Pan: Kappas Along the River

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Mu Pan: The Loyal Retainers 3

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Mu Pan: Frog War Part 1

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Mu Pan: Dogs of Morality

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Mu Pan: Dogs of Morality

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Mu Pan: Dogs of Morality

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About the Author

James Cartwright

James started out as an intern in 2011 and came back in summer of 2012 to work online and latterly as Print Editor, before leaving in May 2015.

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