Shirow Masamune: Artworks in the Shell

Description

In the dawn of the information age, when the reach of the global net was limited to a few computers scattered in institutional facilities and the homes of committed enthusiasts, one artist pointed the way to the future.

From his debut work, depicting a world in the grip of a titanic, manipulative computer dubbed “Nemesis” (Black Magic), and his buddy cop thriller, pairing a human SWAT officer with a full-body cyborg (Appleseed), to the rollicking adventures of a “tank police” unit fighting the villainous organization Buaku (Dominion), and his immortal masterpiece that set the global standard for all cyberpunk to come (The Ghost in the Shell)—and beyond—the inscrutable genius Shirow Masamune has shaped the look, feel, and concerns of modern science fiction in ways few living people can equal. Admired by filmmakers, futurists, authors, and artists, Shirow has published many art books, but most of his color pieces only existed as rare treasures in expensive collections—until now.

Artworks in the Shell features over 260 full-color illustrations—including four stunning fold-out mega-spreads—from all four decades of Shirow’s career, painstakingly restored for a 2025 retrospective exhibition in Tokyo. Dynamic, cool, enigmatic, erotic, and comedic, tracking every one of Shirow’s innovative analog and digital techniques, this is the ultimate showcase of a creator whose curiosity and fearlessness have made him a legend.