Beloved Japanese fetish artist Namio Harukawa passed away last week. Harukawa’s gorgeously-rendered thick women were perpetually cast in positions of casual dominance, going about their day riding the subway or reading a book, la-dee-dah. Meanwhile, a helpless man was being smothered by their voluptuous buttocks or choking on a high heel. Whereas fellow big butt aficionado R. Crumb always positions himself at the center of his erotic narrative, the men in Harukawa’s illustrations are inconsequential, their faces commonly obscured by ample butt cheeks.
If there is a heaven, I have a pretty good idea of what Namio Harukawa’s looks like.
