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Sideshow Gallery
15
"Takeshi Yamada's
Museum
of
World
Wonders:
Coney Island
Circus Sideshow"
Artist’s
Statement
 I
regard myself as a “Visual Anthropologist” and my
artworks as a “Visual Encyclopedia” because they are
furnished with comprehensive descriptions and
cross-cultural anthropological research behind them.
With my creations, I have had over 400 fine art
exhibitions including 42 solo shows at museums,
universities, nature centers, fine art galleries, art
centers, and midways internationally.
My recent super-realism artworks reflect my
investigation of the unique and distinctive culture of
Coney Island area of Brooklyn, New York. This culture is
called “Coney Island Sideshow”. At one time, Coney
Island was much bigger than Disney World, Six Flags and
Hollywood combined. Coney Island was literally the
center of entertainment culture and the universal hub
where the most spectacular beauties, curiosities,
oddities, monsters and marvels were gathered from around
the world to satisfy the human mind, intellect and
imagination.
At the sideshow, I was particularly fascinated by the
series of “specimens” of mythic creatures on display,
which are called “gaffs”. Gaffs are a form of highly
specialized hyper-realism sculptures simulating
artifacts of curiosities and oddities (some are
completely fictional, such as Fiji Mermaid and Jackalope)
displayed at the pay-per-view sideshows behind large,
vividly painted large banners. Historically, gaffs have
been a vital part of the “Cabinet of Curiosities” (also
known as Wunderkammer or wonder-room). The cabinet of
curiosities was a collection of natural history
specimens kept and often displayed in cabinets by many
early practitioners of science (and they were symbols of
wealth, social status and power by international trade
merchants) in the early 16th century in Europe, and were
precursors to today’s natural history museums.
With these in mind, I have created over 500
post-super-realism and neo-taxidermy artworks simulating
the treasures of the cabinet of curiosities. Examples of
them are 6-feet Fiji Mermaids, 5-feet Chupacabra,
31-feet giant sea serpents, dragons, two-headed babies,
shrunken human heads, fossilized fairies, nuclear
radiation giant stag beetles of Bikini Atoll, Canadian
hairy trout, New York City giant subway bugs, king
tarantulas, Mongolian giant death worms, two-headed
snakes, four-legged turkeys, vampire monkeys, Chinese
flesh-eating mushrooms, two-headed and six-fingered
alchemist, human-faced insects, artifacts of the
Dreamland Fire of 1911 in Coney Island, relics of
ancient civilizations, sea rabbits of Coney Island,
giant prehistoric horseshoe crabs, alien specimens
collected by the Area 51 US military base, and Coney
Island brand exotic canned foods, among many others.
With my collection of curious, odd and mysterious
specimens, artifacts and artworks at Takeshi Yamada’s
Museum of World Wonders, I want to celebrate one of the
primal desires of human nature, which seeks the mystery
and wonders of the universe.
Takeshi Yamada, 2007
Above
photograph by Charles Denson - Courtesy of Takishi
Yamada
"Museum of World Wonders" Exhibition by Takeshi Yamada
is displayed here by request of Takeshi.
Now Step Right this Way to Experience the
Artwork of Takeshi
Yamada
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Link - Articles -
New Artwork - Press. |
click to read articles
|
click on above image to read article
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CABINET OF CURIOUSITIES
Art Lecture & Workshop by
Takeshi Yamada
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 |
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Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
The following
article
features Takeshi
Yamada’s participation
in the “Mythic
Creatures: Dragons,
Unicorns & Mermaids”
exhibition at the
American Museum of
Natural History in New
York, New York in 2007
and 2008. Yamada was
featured in a
documentary film, art
performances, art
demonstration, and art
lecture about the
exhibition events. This
manuscript was produced
by Dr. Eriko N. Bond,
noted art critic and
book author in New York
City, as told by Yamada.
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Cindora at Coney Island
Beach - 6 foot Rogue
taxidermy - Collection
of "Tyler
Fyer's Lucky Daredevil
Thrillshow"
|
Click
On The Photos Below To View Full Size.
Limulus polyphemus
- Kabutogani (Warrior’s Helmet Crab in Japan;
Horseshoe Crab in the United States) is a “living fossil”,
and as such has outlived the most famous of fossils--the
dinosaur.
Click here
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The Cabinet of Curiosity
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Prehistoric Giant Horseshoe Crab
(Limulus
giganteus)
34"x10"x3"
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Prehistoric Giant Horseshoe Crab
(Limulus
phoenix)
30"x12"x4" |
Nuclear Radiated
Giant Tailed Stag
Beetles of Bikini
Atoll
(Male & Female)
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Nuclear Radiated
Giant Stag
Beetle of Bikini
Atoll
15"x10"x3" |
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Nuclear Radiated
Giant Stag
Beetle of Bikini
Atoll
(adult male head)
in display case |
Warrior's Ceremonial Mask,
excavated from the ruin of the Palace of Ocean (Painted on the Horseshoe
Crab)
17"x11"x3" |
Warrior's Ceremonial Mask (with feathers),
excavated from the ruin of the Palace of Ocean
36"x23"x3" |
Princess Otohime
(dragon's daughter) riding on the back of the Warrior's
Helmet Crab, excavated from the ruin of the Palace of
Ocean
22"x10"x3" |
Chupacabra
Details of head
blood-sucking
monster believed to live in
Mexico, Brazil and on the island of
Puerto Rico |
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Chupacabra
5 feet
blood-sucking monster
believed to live in
Mexico, Brazil and on the island of
Puerto Rico
Collection of Museum of
World Oddities, Florida) |
Mummified
6-fingered Hand |
Homunculus
(artificial human
created from human sperm)
created by Paracerusus
in 16th century
(mummified body parts) |
Hairy Trout |
Egyptian Cat
Mummy |
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Fiji Alligator
Canned
Food |
Jackalope
Canned
Food |
Spiny Bullfrog
Canned Food |
King Tarantula
Label |
Giant Vampire Bat
Label |
King Piranha
Label
(Private
Collection)
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Giant
Perubian Vampire
Moth
Cocoons
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Coney Island
School of Wizardry
Artifact collected at Dreamland Fire of
1911 in Coney Island
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Coney Island
Voodoo
Shoppe
Artifact collected at Dreamland Fire of 1911 in
Coney Island
(Private Collection) |
Coney Island
Anthropological Institute
Artifact collected at
Dreamland Fire of 1911 in Coney Island
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Coney Island
Mermaid World
Artifact collected at Dreamland Fire of 1911 in Coney Island
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Fossilized Fairy
(Nympha
juncea) |
Giant Cockroach
Fossil
six-inch
(Collection of
Museum of World Oddities, Florida) |
Fiji-Mermaid
Detail |
Fiji-Mermaid
49 inches |
The universal egg in the following portraits is a symbol
of alchemy; a perfect container of time, space and life.
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6-Fingered
Nobleman
In Blue
32"x24"
oil on canvas |
2-Headed 6-
Fingered Alchemist
32" X 24"
oil on Canvas
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6-Fingered Doctor
32"
x 24"
oil
on canvas
(with
two goddesses)
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6-Fingered Philosopher
32"
x 24"
oil
on canvas
(with three goddesses) |
6-Fingered
Merchant
32" X 24"
oil on Canvas |
|
6-Fingered
Warrior Prince
48"x 36"
oil on canvas |
Battle
of
Coney
Island
48" x 72"
oil on canvas
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Takeshi
Yamada
as a Horseshoe Crab Warrior at the Annual Coney Island Mermaid
Parade in 2003 - with Helen Pontani of "Pontani Sisters" |
Takeshi
Yamada
as a Horseshoe Crab Warrior at the Annual Coney Island Mermaid Parade -
with 2 Mermaids in 2003 |
Two-headed Dragon Tailed Green Snake |
|
Exhibition Sign
Takeshi
Yamada's six-fingered hand |
Exhibition Sign
Takeshi Yamada's six-fingered hand |
Exhibition Sign
Takeshi Yamada's six-fingered hand
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Six Fingered Gloves |
7-Fingered Hand |
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Mermaid's Knife
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Two-headed Baby
with 12 fingers & toes |
Shrunken
Human Head
(Collection of
Museum of World Oddities, Florida)
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Japanese Ceremonial Dragon Tooth of Chiho-Shinto enshrined in the altar |
Japanese
Ceremonial Dragon Tooth of Chiho-Shinto |
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Sperm
Whale Tooth Scrimshaw
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Human-faced Fly |
Mongolian Giant Death Worm
Collection of Museum of
World Oddities, Florida) |
New York City
Giant Subway Bugs
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Two-faced Baby |
Posted here with the permission of
Takeshi Yamade Click Here to See
Takeshi Yamada’s Works at
Theaters/Amusement Park
By
Eriko N. Bond
To Read Click on Curtain
Above
Review
by Allison Devers in The Brooklyn Rail.
Critical perspective on arts, politics, and culture.
July/August 2005 Issue
Click Here to Read
No artwork may be
reproduced, reposted or used in any manner except that of viewing
without the express written permission of Sideshow WorldTM
or the copyright holder. If you would like to be include in
our sideshow art gallery please
drop us a line
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.JPG)
%20of%20Dragon's%20palace%20riding%20on%20the%20back%20of%20the%20Warrior's%20Helmet%20Crab%20(horseseho%20crab),%20excavated%20from%20the%20ruin%20of%20the%20%20Palace%20of%20Ocean.JPG)
