Mediaeval scrolls, tapestries, frescoes, quilts, folk-lore and dreams are all cited as inspiration for the artist Kosuke Ajiro. To look into one of Ajiro-san’s paintings is to get lost within another world, one full of mandrakes, winged-cardinals, puppets, flowers, mysterious writings, kings, queens and knights, forest creatures and tree roots.

Based in Tokyo, Kosuke Aijro is celebrated in Japan for his fascinating work, with several important solo exhibitions and publications in Japanese, we are delighted to make his work available to a wider audience, for the first time in the UK.

Printed at our Fine Art Trade Guild printers in London to museum quality standards, Kosuke Ajiro has given permission for an edition of just fifty (very) limited edition signed prints to be made in collaboration with The Shop Floor Project.

The scale of these works have a feeling of a framed piece of fresco or ancient tapestry and are taken from original paintings which the artist made exclusively for The Shop Floor Project in 2020.  

Each painting has been skilfully reproduced on beautiful Aquarelle Rag paper using accurate and rich archival inks in a careful process that respects the original painting. Every print has an authentication label on the reverse (shown above) which is signed by the artist.

Our immediate response to seeing Ajiro’s work for the first time was one of complete fascination. At once they recalled characters from an Angela Carter novel, ancient Herbals and alchemists’ books and illuminated mediaeval manuscripts such as this example from 1500 below.

In the original painting Prank (below) a swagged stage curtain unfolds to reveal a scene reminiscent of a Shakespearean farce. A wedding between a queen and a figure in a cloak disguised as a donkey-like creature is playing out as the trees with eyes bear witness to the happenings.

A similar scene in the original work Sleepy (below) where a moth-like creature with a crown made from a seedpod looks to be marrying a regal looking horned animal in gold cape, whilst a sleepy figure reclines in the clouds above.

Kosuke Ajiro’s work is full of mystery. There is a powdery quality to the work, dusty almost - as if from the pages of an ancient text and the figures and creatures have walked out from illuminated margins. The artist’s use of paper with age and texture adds to this atmosphere.

In West Queen (above) a figure in a lace ruff and tiara is disguised and hidden under a hat made from a creature. A cape of protection as she ventures out perhaps, fragments of ancient text collaged onto the painting reveal something we don't quite understand, yet the expression is of someone who knows their fate and is about to venture through the forest. Are the the figures along the bottom, painted like cave markings, a memory or dream of a feast, somewhere she longs to be or is going?

The large painting Mythology is almost one metre in length and feels scroll-like. It contains a fascinating scene that appears to be held at a royal court where gifts and wreaths are being brought to the queen, onlookers and guests surround the sides of the painting. Creatures with forked tongues and ears wear gowns covered in fleur de lys.