"TADANORI YOKOO - Dairakudakan", Japanese Contemporary Art Poster, Original Offset 1989, Ultra Rare, Size (c.73 x 103cm)

Original Offset Print on Paper, B1 Size (c.73 × 103 cm)
As issued for the 1989 theatrical production of Darakudakan: Kaidan Umaino Uma, Japan

This is an original 1989 offset print by legendary Japanese graphic designer Tadanori Yokoo, created for the avant-garde butoh performance Kaidan Umaino Uma by the experimental dance troupe Dairakudakan. A wild fusion of classical Japanese horror, erotic grotesque, and psychedelic mysticism, the poster is one of Yokoo’s most visually explosive works of the late 1980s.

At center, a striking photographic tableau shows two kabuki-inspired performers—one cloaked in a red cape, the other painted in vivid indigo—locked in a tense and theatrical pose against a stark, natural background. Surrounding them is a swirling, kaleidoscopic frame of radiating stripes in pink, orange, and yellow, invoking cosmic energy and spiritual spectacle. Overlaid across the composition are magenta laser-like beams, adding a surrealist shock of visual tension.

The layout incorporates vintage Western engravings, mythological iconography, and murder-mystery pulp—featuring a blood-streaked figure, a woman sprawled on the ground beside a fish, and a hypnotic upside-down goddess. These images are collaged into a baroque tapestry of horror, desire, and cultural collision, bordered by flower-laced dragons, koi fish, and golden celestial flourishes.

Typography is both bold and destabilizing: the title “DARAKUDAKAN” appears inverted at the top, subverting orientation and inviting a deeper look. Calligraphic kanji script floats amid the chaos, grounding the work in Japanese theatrical tradition.

Printed in 1989 with Tadanori Yokoo printed in the lower corner, this piece was issued in extremely limited quantities for Dairakudakan’s live performances. It captures a key moment in Yokoo’s shift toward darker theatrical themes, informed by Japan’s cultural avant-garde and his fascination with death, rebirth, and spiritual spectacle.

Rarely seen outside Japan and nearly impossible to find in original condition, this poster is a masterwork of theatrical design and postmodern collage—essential for collectors of Yokoo, Japanese butoh culture, or psychedelic poster art. This edition comes from a distinguished Yokoo collection and is in outstanding condition.

Please refer to the imagery (both front and back) as this is the exact poster that is for sale. 

It is over 36 years old!

It is not a reproduction or a reprint.

Certificate of Authenticity included.