The art of Goh Mishima, 1924–1989

goh_mishima.jpg

Untitled.

The gay artists archive is currently receiving more than twice as many visits as the rest of these pages so here’s a new addition to what is, it should be stressed, only a personal selection, not a definitive catalogue.

Goh Mishima (born Tsuyoshi Yoshida) specialised in what everyone seems to call “Yakazuza porn” although many of his men have fewer tattoos than genuine Japanese gangsters. Given the Japanese predilection for exploring every fetish imaginable someone had to cover this area. His name, of course, alludes to writer Yukio Mishima and there’s a lot about his work that Mishima would have enjoyed. The Tom of Finland Foundation has a small selection of works and there’s also an exhibition of originals running this month at the Gramercy Gallery. Their site is blighted by pointless Flash bollocks, however; go here instead for further pictures. (Dead link: try the Leslie Lohman Museum or this page at Japanese Gay Art instead.)

Note: The Tom of Finland Foundation biography page says Goh Mishima died three days before Emperor Hirohito in “1988”. Since Hirohito actually died in 1989 that’s the date I’ve listed here.

Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
The gay artists archive

Previously on { feuilleton }
The art of Hideki Koh
Mishima’s Rite of Love and Death
Secret Lives of the Samurai
Guido Reni’s Saint Sebastian
The art of Sadao Hasegawa, 1945–1999
The art of Takato Yamamoto