Female Nude 1975

Editor: So here we have Yoshisuke Funasaka’s "Female Nude," created in 1975 using woodcut techniques. It's struck me as quite bold, almost raw, in its execution – especially in the stark contrast between the black ink and the white paper. What catches your eye about it? Curator: What I see is an intervention within a very specific historical framework of printmaking. This isn't just about depicting the female form; it's about the artist’s relationship to the physical labor involved in carving the woodblock, in selecting, treating and applying the ink. Think about the kind of wood Funasaka used. Was it locally sourced? Did that impact the print run, given wood's inherent variations? Editor: Interesting point about the labor involved and where he got the wood. I hadn’t really considered that before, honestly, just saw it as… well, the final product. Does the medium impact the message in a significant way? Curator: Absolutely. This woodcut connects to a history of prints as multiples, commodities made for distribution. Knowing that this is number 1 over 100 adds a layer. Are we meant to consider these as the mass consumption of art? The grain of the wood itself and ink quality, all become central to the experience, moving beyond a simple appreciation of the female form to reflect a materialist understanding of artistic production. Editor: That’s really fascinating – viewing it not just as an image but as a product of specific material choices and labour. It changes how I understand it, moving from purely aesthetic appreciation to also thinking about the social and economic aspects of its creation. I hadn't looked at woodcut in this way. Curator: Precisely. Understanding the production process unveils the network of relationships embedded within the art itself, from artist to the very materials they handle. Hopefully, this will get you thinking more about that in future art viewings.