Enigma

In what version of your universe that is the best? conclusiveness was always shy away from his works, imitating the life itself. Mirroring a lot of German Expressionist, mixed with grotesque, perversion of our staple knowledge in ukiyo-e. Maruo Suehiro’s unforgiving artwork, skewing imagery of the conservatives, breath life into the world of madness.

suehiro maruo the laughing vampire | Ilustración japonesa ... — Warau Kyuuketsuki©, Suehiro Maruo. 1998.

Single stroke of brush that actually counts, instill an image of conjunction between eastern woodblock principle, and a lot of fascination towards western grotesque. Teenagers running wild, man-machine relationship, assimilation of fantasy and borderline on reality. The usage of non-recyclable styles, near recurring theme of madness that time and time again surprise us otherwise.

Simultaneously, Maruo’s create the most important factor that an artist could have, an ignition. An ignition of discussion, discourses, debate, and even questioning the story itself. Although the concept of keeping the horror at the most unintended moment, pages upon pages of Maruo Suehiro’s work keep us on the edge and alive all the same.

Suehiro Maruo 17 — Suehiro Maruo’s artwork

Among his peers, the depiction of horror has a lot of magnetism towards both eastern and western audience. In drawing an image of lust, body horror, and historical moment in time, amalgamation of youth and maturity of their action, paint a bigger picture inside Maruo’s retrospectives.

The legend in Japanese underground comic cult classics, still working to this day, in depicting the horror of the unknown. And most important of all, to find a base of reality inside a hellish landscape, exaggerated ideological standpoint, and defining our sanity.