Customer Reviews

Drop Dead Cute

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Drop Dead Cute: The New Generation of Women Artists in Japan" is quite simply a book that is drop-dead gorgeous. Ten artists--most in their early thirties--are profiled, and I would, figuratively speaking of course, kill to have the work of any hanging on my walls. As Ivan Vartanian, who has put this book together, notes in his introduction, most of the art reflects the so-called "super-flat" style that is all the rage among Japan's cutting-edge artists. This two-dimensional graphic style is associated with Japanese manga (adult comics) and anime (animated films), and in a number of cases the renderings of female faces here owe a great deal to the childlike, wide-eyed models of manga and anime. Another recurring theme in this art is the emphasis on animals. One artist, for example, repeatedly uses elephants as her theme with a style that resembles a cross between Hello Kitty and Babar. In large part it is this prevalence of lovable animals, child-like faces, and various dream-like themes that has led Vartanian and others to label the work of these artists "kawaii," the Japanese word for cute.

Personally I would be more inclined to apply the word "kowai," which means "frightening" in Japanese, to the work presented in "Drop Dead Cute." There is an overwhelming sense of loneliness and alienation in this graphic work, a general absence of men and of family life, all sorts of female grotesqueries, and juxtapositions of the horrific and the idyllic. Take, for example, the graphically-stunning work of Chiho Aoshima. In one print she has what is perhaps the most beautiful rendering of a Japanese plum tree that I have ever seen, and this tree in blossom is mixed with images of the mythical paradise of Mount Horai. Stranded in the high branches of the tree, meanwhile, is a naked woman bound in ropes. Another artist, Tabaimo, who works in a take-off of the ukiyoe style, has a subway car scene with a baby abandoned like a package on an upper luggage rack, a stack of dismembered forearms, and a man wrapped like a piece of sushi.

What this all means is only touched on lightly by Vartanian. He has provided a mere one page of text by way of understanding each artist, and his introduction is also just a teaser in hinting at the darker side of this art. For a fuller understanding of how an emphasis on childish themes is coexisting with a sense of alienation in Japan today, the reader of "Drop Dead Cute" would do well to acquire the more scholarly and probing "Little Boy: The Arts of Japan's Exploding Subculture."

There is very little text in this book.. it is mainly a coffee table book. The essay is by Ivan Vartanian, who I've never heard of and is not really an academic author or scholar. I found it to be a somewhat shallow and somewhat stereotypical discussion of the artists included. The entries for each artist were also very brief. The images, however speak for themselves, and there are quite a few in this slender book. They included several full-color full-page comics by Aya Takano for example. The images are not really "definitive" and they should be supplemental to other reproductions of the artists' works.

I really enjoyed the diversity of styles presented. High quality images. Well done.

i'm not usually a fan of japanese art, but this book isn't just another anime art collection.

a friend of mine lent this to me (FORCED it on me) about a week ago, and i was skeptical at first. i would only flip through the book at a red light, or when i was stuck in traffic, seeing as how it came to live on my passenger seat where i had been lightly neglecting it since it's arrival. it wasn't until there came a weekend with no good bands in town that i decided to actually devote TIME to looking at this book. i admit, i wasn't immediatley enthralled with it, but it's a hell of a lot better than straight anime, where everyone's art looks the same, and the cat-eared girls and hermaphroditic boys run through magical forests with reckless abandon. no, these pictures had soul. they had meaning. sure, some of them aren't the most detailed and mind-blowing displays of art, but then, they don't have to be. if these women didn't feel it necessary to show off, i say kudos to them. too often is art used to flaunt one's talent, rather than to convey meaning and emotion. and in doing so, the artist loses that freedom to create original works from the heart, and their "art" just becomes a rote and commercialized means of income. just a job. and that's the real test, isn't it? if you can successfully display your message, yet stay true to yourself, to your heart and to your inspiration, then you've made a difference.
so if these women can still pass on their emotions to the general public without losing authenticity, that's really all that matters. for an artist, that's what success is. it's not about money or fame or beauty. just do what you love, and never lose sight of your true style.

anyway, i'm babbling. this is a good book if you're a fan of japanese art, but are tired of mainstream anime. so get up, split from the norm, and check it out.
(but don't insult it because it's not glamourous enough for you!)

Give this book a try if you want to learn more about traditional Japanese pop art.

This book is great. It contains tons of illustrations, engaging articles, and so much cuteness it's unbelievable. Go and buy this NOW!!

The art is spectacular!! That's all I gotta say about that.

~El-Matto

I thought this book woud have a lot more than it did. The cute art in it was not really to my taste. I've shown it to some fine artists, who seemed to appreciate it more, but as an illustrator and a long time fan of japanese art, I was dissapointed.

There is one artist in the book who does flat, local color for terribly simple animal paintings. Nothing engaging, interesting, or different about a brown rabbit sitting. I would have done that in highschool.

The cover image comes from a comic artist inside. Once again, local color and nothing very engaging. Just boring and wierd.

Some of the other artists seemed like it was directed towards kids because it was drawn in the shaky, unpolished manner of a child's hand. They were also more symbolic drawings that children do of people, homes, the sun, and trees.

There are a few artist that are actually interesting. One uses the computer to be extremely decorative. It's not the best, but it is definitely capable of being excellent and is very interesting to look at.

In my opinion though, there are only three artist that I really enjoyed. I do not like the book very much and have cut it up to use in projects. That tore me inside, to cut up a book, but it was there for the project and I was finding a lot of things I didn't mind tearing out. The cute art was not very adorable to me and I suggest buying it used if you must have it. It's not worth the money originally priced or discounted.