Ascending Chaos: The Art of Masami Teraoka 1966-2006

by Catharine Clark (Introduction), Alison Bing (Contributor), Eleanor Heartney (Contributor)

Published to coincide with a series of major exhibitions extending beyond 2007, Ascending Chaos is the first major retrospective of Japanese-American artist Masami Teraoka's prolific and acclaimed work thus far. In Teraoka's paintingswhich have evolved from his wry mimicry of Japanese woodblock prints to much larger and complex canvasses reminiscent of Bosch and Brueghelthe political and the personal collide in a riot of sexually frank tableaux. Populated by geishas and goddesses, priests, and politicians, and prominent contemporary figures, these paintings are the spectacular next phase of a wildly inventive career. With essays by renowned art critics who discuss how Teraoka's work inventively marries east and west, sex and religion, Ascending Chaos is a critical overview of this cultural trickster.

Genres: Art, Japan

248 pages, Hardcover

First published January 25, 2007

Reviews

[Meghan Fidler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am and will forever be a fan of Teraoka, and I welcome his transition from ukiyo-e prints into Western oil painting techniques. However, I deeply disagree with one of the book's commentators, Eleanor Heartney. Alison Bing's defense of Teraoka's ukiyo-e work illustrating women as sexual agents, not as a careless pandering to the male gaze, made me applaud. However, in Heartney's assessment of Teraoka's later work, she likens the overwhelming darkness, torture, sexual molestation and brutality depicted using women's bodies to Bakhtin's concept of the "Carnival." In an attempt to defend against critiques who miss the humor evident in the ukiyo-e prints, Heartney states: "Clearly ascendant in Teraoka's work, the notion of the carnivalesque explains the irrepressible humor and bawdy burlesque that threads through his art. Despite his evident anger at abuses of power and the seriousness of the matters he tackles, Teraoka presents us with a world so full of absurdities that we are forced to smile."
No. I am not smiling. Sexualized violence is a trope in Hollywood, television, and literature. Teraoka is not groundbreaking in such depictions, and such political commentary may only serve to reinforce violence against women. I'm sorry, Eleanor Heartney, but rape is not funny, and depictions of multiple women being raped and tortured is not "Carnivalesque." It's Goreography.

[Catharine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't say too much since I am an editor and contributor to the monograph. That said, the book is an invaluable resource for the history of Masami Teraoka's career and practice as a painter for more than 40 years. The book contains a catalogue raisonne of Teraoka's graphic works that is an extremely useful tool for reference.

[katrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to read this for a show of Masami's work at my gallery. Otherwise I would have had nothing to say about the paintings, because there is so much specific action going on. However, I can't help but feel like people just make this stuff up.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second book of Teraoka's art, "Waves and Plagues," being the first. An excellent artbook with beautiful full color illustration throughout.

[Stephen Duclos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Original perspective on contemporary art