For her first exhibition in Paris, Japanese artist AAA_chan reimagines thirteen classic shunga scenes—including a nod to Hokusai's famous Rêve de la femme du pêcheur—through playful, affectionate cats.
A self-taught Japanese artist, AAA_chan pays tribute to shunga—the ukiyo-e prints devoted to love—by reinterpreting classic scenes through playful, affectionate cats in her own distinctive painterly style. For her first solo exhibition in Paris, she presents « Les Treize Nuits »: thirteen original works painted on hanging scrolls (kakejiku) and framed canvases. The number has a double meaning: thirteen is the number of works on display, but it also alludes to a Japanese legend in which the cat—absent from the twelve signs of the traditional zodiac—is said to have actually been the thirteenth, forgotten by history. Each work reimagines a love scene from historical shunga, sometimes tender, sometimes mischievous, but always infused with subtlety and humor; some pieces even enter into dialogue with iconic ukiyo-e masterpieces, such as a playful nod to Hokusai's Rêve de la femme du pêcheur, in which the octopus becomes a squid and the female diver a mischievous cat. The exhibition also features a guest work from one of the artist's patrons. A distinctly purple-and-gold world where Japanese tradition meets contemporary energy.
Admission: Free, subject to availability.
Source: paris.fr — photo: AAA_chan