An illustration of Godzilla and a giant squid locked in a battle amidst a stormy sea. The creatures clash as ships are tossed and crushed around them.

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

Words: James Cartwright
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Date: 19 April 2013; Work
Art
Illustration

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!

A surreal painting of a lush green jungle where numerous frogs interact with severed human heads. One frog sits atop a head, while another leaps through the air near a head with a long tongue. A vertical yellow banner in the top right contains Chinese characters. — Above
Mu Pan: Loving You For 10000 Years

An illustration of a chaotic scene featuring a person in traditional Japanese dress and a monkey in samurai armour. They are surrounded by blue demons, a Shiba Inu, and a large pheasant flying overhead. — Above
Mu Pan: Ghost Island

An illustration of a giant, green-skinned monster with a wide, toothy maw attacking a crowd of people. The figures fight back with spears and bows from the shore and from small wooden boats in the water. — Above
Mu Pan: Kappas Along the River

An illustration of Godzilla attacking a large naval ship in a churning sea. Small planes swarm the creature as explosions and fire fill the orange sky. — Above
Mu Pan: The Loyal Retainers 3

An illustration of a giant toad surrounded by smaller toads in a grassy landscape. The largest toad has a red and white circular seal on its forehead and an open mouth. — Above
Mu Pan: Frog War Part 1

An illustration of a brown and white hound with a small, orange fox-like creature draped over its back. The fox wraps its long body around the hound’s torso, and both animals have a small eye symbol on their foreheads. Red Chinese characters and stamps are scattered across the pale yellow background. — Above
Mu Pan: Dogs of Morality

An illustration of a large, muscular yellow dog wearing a studded collar. The dog stands over a smaller, defeated tiger that it holds beneath its chest. — Above
Mu Pan: Dogs of Morality

An illustration of a dog and a cat lying on their backs against a pale yellow background. A large, pale hand reaches from the left to stroke the cat, while red stamps and Chinese characters are scattered around them. — Above
Mu Pan: Dogs of Morality

Further Info

www.mupan.com

About the Author

James Cartwright

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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.

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

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