Skyler reimagines Picasso's "The Ladies of Avignon" as set in Kabukicho (Tokyo's largest red-light district). After the war, a kabuki theater was planned for the area; a location that many years before had been both a swamp and then a duck sanctuary. Due to lack of funds, Kabuki never came to Kabukicho, but the name stuck to this entertainment area containing restaurants, bars, nightclubs, love hotels, massage parlours, and hostess clubs.
The night lights of the painting make the prostitutes appear to be wearing kabuki make-up. The true heart or even physical appearance of each girl is further masked symbolically by a sheet of thick paper that has been added to the painting--more make-up.