IX | Spencer Museum of Art

Ōura Nobuyuki, artist

born 1949

Yosuke Akiba, Publishers 21st Century, Inc., publisher

Okabe Print Studio, printer

Print House OM, printer

IX, 1982–1983, Showa period (1926–1989)

Portfolio/Series title: Enkin o kakaete (Holding Perspectives)

Where object was made: Japan

Material/technique: screen print; lithograph

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 77.1 x 57.1 cm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 30 3/8 x 22 1/2 in

Credit line: Museum purchase: R. Charles and Mary Margaret Clevenger Fund

Accession number: 2002.0032.09

On display: Long Ellis Gallery

Add to portfolio

If you wish to reproduce this image, please submit an image request

Images

Label texts

Street Nihonga: The Art of Jimmy Tsutomu Mirikitani

The atomic bombing of Hiroshima looms large in both world history and Mirikitani’s art. Like many Japanese artists, he grappled with its enduring legacy. Ōura Nobuyuki’s controversial Enkin o kakaete (Holding Perspective) series challenged taboos surrounding representations of the Japanese Emperor and memory of the bombings. In contrast, Mirikitani’s Hiroshima works merge collage and drawing to depict Kannon, the Bodhisattva of Mercy, rising from a mushroom cloud beside the Atomic Bomb Dome—a haunting emblem of survival amid devastation.

Past Presence

Disparate time periods collide within the boundaries of Ōura Nobuyuki’s print IX. Images of objects and people such as Japanese Emperor Hirohito (1901–1989), a mushroom cloud reminiscent of World War II nuclear bombing, and a woman dressed in a court costume from the Heian period (794–1185) form a disjunctive composition. This work is part of Ōura’s series Enkin o kakaete (Holding Perspectives), which was repeatedly criticized and attacked for its use of the emperor’s image in a manner that was considered disrespectful.

Past Presence