Drawing worlds

Winter King was inspired by the Japanese translation of the story “Erling” by the German-Jewish writer Hugo Landsberger (pseudonym: Hans Land), which Mori Ōgai published in 1912.

Hans Land’s short travel sketch from 1906, largely forgotten in German-speaking countries but well-known in Japan, transports readers to the impressive coastal landscape of Denmark, whose solitude harbors the story of a tragic life. Kusamori takes up central elements of the plot; his drawings, however, interweave European elements from different historical periods and mythical motifs into an atmospherically dense world that extends far beyond the narrative space of the literary source material. They invite viewers to embark on an extended journey that effortlessly crosses the boundaries between reality and dream.

In cooperation with the Riekeles Gallery, Potsdam, the exhibition presents a selection of the original drawings and juxtaposes them with Kusamori’s groundbreaking work for animated films such as Metropolis (2001), as well as his most recent illustrations, which bring to life the setting of the science fiction novel Perdido Street Station (2000) by British author China Miéville. These works, as is well known, present no less fascinating journeys to imaginary places.

The academic aim of the exhibition project is to explore the creative process of interweaving and its diverse visual sources. Such inspiration includes personal journeys through East Asia and Europe—and their photographic documentation—as well as publications on architectural history, ranging from Cologne Cathedral to the buildings constructed by the Austrian architect Otto Wagner in Vienna around 1900.

Kusamori Shūichi 草森秀一 was born in 1961 in Kanagawa Prefecture as Hirata Shūichi. After studying at the prestigious Tokyo Designer Academy, he was involved in projects that made Japanese animated film globally known as anime—including Grave of the Fireflies (1988), Patlabor (1989), and Ghost in the Shell (1995). As an established art director, he was responsible for meticulously crafted fictional cityscapes, laying the foundation for the worldwide success of Metropolis (2001), Innocence (2004), Psycho-Pass (2012–23), and other films and series. In 2006, he founded the company Taro House with his wife, where he continues to serve as art director to this day.

As an illustrator, Kusamori creates his works both on paper—using pencil, brush, and gouache—and digitally. He is known for the extensive research, masterful technique, and obsession with detail that go into the creation of his often dystopian universes.

For some time now, he has been working—in freelance collaboration with Japanese publishers—on the visual adaptation of literary narratives across various genres. What appeals to Kusamori most about these projects is the greater creative and temporal independence they offer.