Whittoons

I was swept away by the Hokusai exhibit at the SAM (Seattle Art Museum) and felt the need to submit my reflection on The Wave. Not to make light of the work or mock the cliche that it has become. So inspired by our visit, I initiated the work on fabric (FabricMate felt tip pens and Tulip Fabric Markers…and cleaned up the image on Procreate for reproduction).

This woodblock print and its many deconstructed images seem ubiquitous. We located one print in a drawer in a back room of an Australian museum. Who knew?

Now I have never encountered a rogue wave at sea (though I did go through a gale on a tramp steamer), yet in the world of allegory, I am now experiencing a rogue wave of enormous proportions in 2024. The newspaper business is offloading editorial cartoonists like disposable plastic tossed in the ocean. Old cartoon characters are fading from newsprint and the imagination of new generations…and anime monsters are taking over the screens. And then there is the wave of disinformation and MAGA which refuses to dissipate. SO let Snoopy lead the way and let’s master the swells. 

The SAM exhibit offered other views of Mt Fuji and powerful surges:

I was more inclined to see dragon claws in the wave crests, rather than graceful seabirds. Maybe I see more imminent threat in the rogue wave than soaring beauty. Maybe I should have done my Tai Chi before choosing to visit the Museum. 

The work of some artists who have been influenced by Hokusai, are on display including a piece by Yayoi Kusama:

Though as described above, she “…stated that her series is not inspired by any other artist’s work”. Really! 

We came across her work this year in Amsterdam and someone just could not take it all in…or maybe this is the only way to immerse in her kaleidoscope world.

For pure abstraction by an artist living in the late 18th and early 19th century:

Check out the vertical lines in Francis Celentano’s work (past UW professor of art).

I read somewhere along the exhibit walls, that Hokusai described the technique for creating water spray. I am paraphrasing here, but he said to dip the brush in plenty of white paint then hold up the brush in front of your mouth and blow, making this sound – “ phoo,phoo,phoo! ” Lacking this sophisticated technique for the expulsion of hot air, I resorted to the Splatter selection in Procreate.

Reader Alert: if sensitive to erotic art , DO NOT continue scrolling…but there is another side to Hokusai:

How can one ever eat an octopus appendage, after wallowing in this suggestive piece?

And for the grand nephews, nothing rated as highly as the massive Lego depiction of The Wave.

Legos rule! Such varied uses for conveying messages through art. In 2015 we headed to San Francisco to see the Ai WeiWei exhibit on Alcatraz. One large warehouse space floor was covered with depictions of political dissidents and prisoners around the world…all in Legos. Each one had been numbered and shipped to the US to be assembled since, at the time, WeiWei could not leave China.

Next major project in Legos by WeiWei was stymied by the Lego corporation since they did not appreciate the “misuse” of their plastic for political purposes. So WeiWei left a Mercedes outside the Seattle Asian Art Museum with the sun roof open, and asked for Lego donations to be tossed inside the vehicle. 

[Many thanks to SAM for the exhibit and the descriptions of each piece. ]