The Actor Ichikawa Danjuro V as Hei Shinno Masakado in the Play Hana no O-Edo Masakado Matsuri, Performed at the Ichimura Theater in the Eleventh Month, 1789 c. 1789

Katsukawa Shun'ei created this woodblock print in 1789, depicting the actor Ichikawa Danjuro V. The composition presents a striking figure, poised against a subtly speckled background, evoking a palpable sense of tension. Notice how Shun'ei uses bold lines and contrasting patterns in the actor's costume to destabilize our reading of the body’s form. The stripes and geometric shapes compete for our attention, obscuring the figure's anatomy and creating a dynamic interplay between surface and depth. This emphasis on the flatness of the picture plane aligns with the formalist principles that would later influence modern art. The actor's exaggerated makeup and pose further challenge conventional notions of representation. Shun'ei is not merely documenting reality; he is constructing an image that explores the artificiality of the theater and the constructed nature of identity. This print invites us to consider how art can destabilize established meanings, values, and categories.