NBA Stars And Basketball Culture Transformed Into Amazing Ukiyo-e Artwork

Ukiyo-e, which translates to “image(s) of the floating world,” is a genre of Japanese art that thrived from the 17th to 19th centuries. Artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of everything from scenes of folk tales to erotica, and as we have seen in recent years, efforts are being made to embrace it in in modern art and pop culture. The distinct style has been used to put a new aesthetic twist on Star Wars, The Avengers, and even Iron Maiden mascot Eddie. One of the more pleasantly surprising efforts might just be Edo Ball, a series "created from the love and passion of the game of Basketball, Ukiyo-e art and Japanese culture."

The Black Mamba

Source: Edo Ball

Australia-based illustrator and art director Andrew Archer started the series in 2013 with 12 original artworks, but the success of the seamless blend of traditional Japanese artwork, mythology, and the game of basketball has led him to start a "new season" of 10 more original prints. Here we will share a few standout pieces of his artwork, with each piece being inspired by Japanese mythology and culture, as well as popular player nicknames and basketball sayings. You can read the in depth story behind each piece here and here.

All prints (as well as postcards and phone-cases) are available at Archer's online store.