[URBAN NOTE] Torontoist on Rokudenashiko at TCAF

[rfmcdonald]

In "Why This Artist is Taking Her Pro-pussy Campaign to TCAF", Kate Fane writes about Japanese artist Rokudenashiko, who has gained much fame and notoriety for some of her works.

Rokudenashiko wants to de-problematize the pussy.

Doing so has created some problems.

Her quest has garnered the Japanese artist international fame and local derision, as her pop-art sculptures of manko (“pussy”) have spurred heated discussions around obscenity, artistic expression, and the persistent stigmatization of female genitalia in Japanese culture. It’s also led to her arrest and incarceration. Twice.

Undeterred, this weekend she’s in Toronto for the Toronto Comics Art Festival, where her campaign continues.

On May 9th, a Japanese court determined that while Rokudenashiko’s physical manko sculptures were legally acceptable, she crossed the threshold from art into obscenity when she digitally scanned her vagina and shared the 3D printing plans with supporters of her crowdfunding campaign, and inspired “reckless sexual impulse” in the process. Hardly a stretch to see the parallels between a verdict like that and attitudes around women’s sexuality in general.

Rokudenashiko’s newly released graphic memoir What Is Obscenity? The Story of a Good For Nothing Artist and her Pussy , published by Toronto’s Koymaa Press, follows her remarkable yet rocky path to international attention and acclaim—depicting her youthful insecurities around her own manko, her artistic awakening, and her 2014 stint in prison where she was initially ostracized by her fellow inmates after admitting the real reason she was locked up.

Much more, including images, is at Torontoist.