MEDSAN - Sleeping Pikachu Lantern (眠るピカチュウの提灯) - UNIQUE WORK

THERE IS ONLY ONE IN THE WORLD - EDITION 1/1

With this square-format work, Medsan places Pikachu, the electric mascot of the Pokémon franchise created by Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori, inside a chōchin, the washi paper lantern hanging from Japanese storefronts. The video game icon leaves the screen to join the nocturnal daily life of a bamboo garden: it embodies the spirit of the series “Arcade in Real Life,” where the fighting hero becomes a mere sleeping presence. The rendering is that of sumi-e ink painting enhanced with watercolors, in the tradition of Sesshū’s washes and Hiroshige’s nocturnal prints. The cartouche メドサン, the artist’s Japanese signature, is affixed in the bottom right like a workshop seal.

The work relies on a contrast of two inks: a deep indigo wash, broadly wet and allowed to bleed into halos, against the raw gold of the bare center of the paper. The bamboos are brushed in a single motion, dry-point and bold stroke, following the single-stroke discipline of sumi-e; ink splatters and gold dust evoke fireflies and recall maki-e glitter. Pikachu’s body is treated with translucent yellow glazes, crimson cheeks, and a tail reduced to a few angular black lines, while the characters あかり (“light”) run vertically along the lantern wall. The circular composition, a halo of light inscribed within the square, organizes the entire reading around this incandescent core.

The mashup conveys something simple and fair: the creature that produces lightning has here become a source of domestic light, tamed, protective, almost a child’s night-light. The bamboo and the ink night conjure a seasonal imagination — a summer matsuri, Obon lanterns — where the glow signals a presence more than it illuminates. The work transforms a power icon into a promise of rest.

A contemplative and luminous piece, ideal for adding a poetic and Japanese-flavored touch to an interior of a collector devoted to bridges between pictorial tradition and popular culture.

Technical specifications:
Artist: Medsan
Reference: Pikachu / Pokémon / sumi-e / Japanese lantern / bamboo / ink and gold
Dimensions: 40 x 40 cm
Edition: Unique work — 1/1 (one-of-a-kind in the world)
Year: 2026
Support: Giclée mounted on a wooden frame (thickness approx. 2 cm)
Signature: Yes, hand-signed
Condition: Excellent
Certificate: Certificate of authenticity (upon request)

About the Atelier:
Atelier Joconde is a workshop of artists united around a living and plural contemporary creation. Installed as a true site of artistic production, the studio operates both in collective creation and in individual approaches, depending on the projects and works. Atelier Joconde is also a family venture. Le Yack, a contemporary figurative painter, develops a narrative and introspective body of work with cinematic and realistic influences. By his side, Medsan, oriented toward pop art painting, explores color, modern iconography, and visual culture. Finally, Neo Pablo engages in a more instinctive search, blending abstract art, outsider art, and figurative abstraction. Each work is conceived, produced, and followed within the studio, with a shared artistic standard and a unique identity for each artist.

Keywords:
Medsan, Atelier Joconde, Le Yack, Pikachu, Pokémon, Sumi-e, Japanese Lantern, Ink and Watercolor, Bamboo, Square format, Contemporary, Unique work, 1/1