untitled, Mishima Go

Artwork Overview

Mishima Go, artist
1924–1988
untitled, 1972
Where object was made: Japan
Material/technique: offset lithograph
Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 418 x 296 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 418 x 296 mm
Credit line: Museum purchase: Barbara Benton Wescoe Fund
Accession number: 2019.0127.18
Not on display

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Images

Label texts

Inked Bodies
Artist Mishima Go often depicted men with tattoos in the irezumi style. Tattooers practicing this style apprentice for years to learn how to complete designs by hand, using wooden handles attached to metal needles with silk thread. The carp climbing the back of the man on the left are symbols of struggle, endurance, and a desire for upward mobility. By contrasting one figure with tattoos and one without, Mishima emphasizes that tattoos can change people’s perceptions of an individual.

Exhibitions