vol. 4 Taga Shin｜多賀 新
copperplate printing on paper, 1981, 36.5 × 24cm (image), edition of HC, price: ¥124,300
cover artwork for the Edogawa Rampo Bunko series (Shunyodo)
Even today, Taga Shin continues to create works that are mainly based on elegant line drawings, but it goes without saying that he is known for the many copperplate prints he produced in the 1970s and 1980s that are full of eroticism. His most well-known work is the series of cover illustrations for the Shunyodo Bunko editions of Edogawa Rampo’s novels, but these are not the only masterpieces he has produced. His nervous, spasmodic lines create a bizarre, eccentric, sensual, other-dimensional space that is reminiscent of the German surrealist Hans Bellmer, and he creates astonishing nudes that are pathologically distorted and transformed, and at times seem to be on the verge of collapse.
copperplate printing on paper, 1982, 50 × 36.5 cm (image), edition of HC, price: ¥165,000
cover artwork for the Edogawa Rampo Bunko series (Shunyodo)
copperplate printing on paper, 1974, 36.5 × 28 cm (image), edition of 35/35, price: ¥118,800
cover artwork for the Edogawa Rampo Bunko series (Shunyodo)
copperplate printing on paper, 2000, 30.5 × 44.5 cm (image), edition of 29/40, price: ¥140,800
A certain inner power, the overflow of eros, will first bring decadence to the given (existing) body, that is, the stereotype of the body, which cannot withstand it. Skin and flesh will be brutally torn apart, internal organs will spill out, and bones will be exposed. Perhaps in this process of writhing and slowly moving towards disintegration, the body will experience a return to the lewd flesh itself. In other words, having passed through the flesh as the body’s homeland and origin, as well as the body’s dark age, before the body’s shape was formed, the body will be remade anew, aiming for a more erotic stage.
copperplate printing on paper, 1977, 36.5 × 22 cm (image), edition of HC, price: ¥124,300
cover artwork for the Edogawa Rampo Bunko series (Shunyodo)
copperplate printing on paper, 1981, 24 × 36.5 cm (image), edition of AP, price: ¥118,800
cover artwork for the Edogawa Rampo Bunko series (Shunyodo)
copperplate printing on paper, 1982, 24.5 × 42 cm (image), edition of 42/44, price: ¥124,300
cover artwork for the Edogawa Rampo Bunko series (Shunyodo)
In Taga’s copperplate prints, even if the transformed bodies are temporarily fixed in unknown modes of existence that are grotesque but mysteriously noble, such as sensual angels, otherworldly races, or demonic mother goddesses, the movement of bodily transformation is repeated over and over again. This is because “…sensuality is awakened not only when the desired object appears, but also when that object is transformed” (Georges Bataille), and above all, the fountain of Eros, the inner power to transform and remake the body once fixed, never dries up but always wells up. This can be said to be clearly evidenced by Taga’s vast collection of copperplate prints.
copperplate printing on paper, 1977, 48.5 × 36.5 cm (image), edition of HC, sold
cover artwork for the Edogawa Rampo Bunko series (Shunyodo)
pencil on paper, 2021, 23 × 32 cm (image), price: ¥352,000
pencil on paper, 2021, 23 × 32 cm (image), price: ¥352,000
Artist
Taga Shin｜多賀 新
Born in Honbetsu, Hokkaido in 1946.
Started copperplate printmaking on his own in 1969.
Received the Grand Prix Printmaking Exhibition Award in 1973.
1983-84: Studied in the United States and West Germany as a member of the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ overseas training program.
Art critic
Soma Toshiki｜相馬 俊樹
Born in 1965. Graduated from Keio University, Faculty of Letters, Department of Philosophy, Department of Aesthetics and Art History. Art critic.
Numerous books on the expression of eroticism and fantasy art.
