TOSHIO SAEKI - UNNEN

TOSHIO SAEKI
UNNEN

Published by Innen, 2019
Book size 13 x 19 cm
Pages 28
SoftCover
Staple Bound
Offset Printed, Black-and-White
First edition

The inky black and white illustrations of Toshio Saeki mine subjects and themes of historical Japanese folklore—horned demons, elderly succubi, visitors from the spirit world—and the artist's own subconscious desires and fears in this zine of horror erotica. Saeki's female characters are erotic subjects beguiled by relentless and increasingly bizarre malicious forces—subversive sexual images that most Western audiences have to come to associate with an underground Japan through prints like “The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife.” Scenes reminiscent of post-war film noir and horror like 1968's Kuroneko or Onibaba from '64, conjure up night terrors of happenings in remote dwellings where the supernatural and the sexual converge.

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Toshio Saeki’s black-and-white illustrations exploit subjects and themes from historical Japanese folklore—horned demons, aged succubi, visitors from the spirit world—as well as the artist’s unconscious desires and fears in this zine of horror erotica. Saeki’s female characters are erotic subjects seduced by relentless and increasingly bizarre malevolent forces—subversive sexual imagery that most Western viewers have come to associate with a subterranean Japan through prints like “The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife.” Scenes reminiscent of postwar film noir and horror, such as Kuroneko (1968) or Onibaba (64), evoke night terrors in isolated dwellings where the supernatural and the sexual converge.